Skies on Fire
by litgurljane
Summary: The boys find themselves transported to a future where the demons have won. There, they meet a young girl with connections to the Winchesters, and a very crytpic Castiel. Has been updated to include all current sequels. Final chapter added April 18!
1. Skies on Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Author's note: This is supposed to be a one shot, but if ya'll like it, I may make it a series.**

"Ow," Dean groaned. He rolled onto his stomach, the motion jarring his bruised left side. "What the hell was that?"

Sam just shook his head. The young man looked around and a very confused expression came to his face. They were in a street, which set off a few alarms- their last location had been a crap motel on I-80. Sam and his brother had just returned with the burgers they'd bought at the diner across from their room when everything went black. He'd returned to consciousness when his body slammed against the pavement.

"I think demon. You think demon?" Dean asked as he gingerly lifted himself from the ground.

"With our luck," Sam muttered following his brother's lead and standing.

They headed down the street trying to find anything to indicate their location. The buildings, Victorian by the looks of them, looked to be abandoned shops. Sam surmised they were in some sort of old downtown, like the kind he and his brother tended to come across in the Midwest.

Dean led his younger brother around a corner and onto another block. The bright green sign at the corner read "Main Street."

"That's specific," Dean complained.

This street, too, was deserted. Sam had a bad feeling about the whole situation. "I don't think we should be out in the open like this."

"At least one of you has a brain," a feminine voice squeaked from behind them.

The brothers turned to find themselves facing a teenage girl, sixteen or seventeen years old, with long brown hair and keen green eyes that grew wider as she inspected them.

"Oh my God," the girl breathed. "What? How?" She sounded as confused as the boys.

"Do we know you?" Sam asked. The girl looked awfully familiar.

She shook her head. A piercing wail sliced through the air. Dean spun around, pulling a .45 from his jacket pocket. The girl panicked. "We need to go." She grabbed the boys' hands and ran down the street towards an old bookshop.

Inside, she collapsed on a pile of dusty books. "We need to get you out of here." She looked heavenward. "Cas!" she screeched.

Sam and Dean looked at each other. Sam knew what his brother was thinking. Was this girl trying to get in touch with Castiel the angel? How did she know him? And would he really respond to her calls? Maybe Castiel could explain how they'd gotten wherever they were.

"Cas, I'm not kidding around! Get your ass down here! It's important!" she yelled.

A figure appeared at the door just beyond the glass. He stepped into the darkened interior and grinned. Sam was unsure if this was Castiel. If it was, he wasn't using the same vessel. Of course, Sam wasn't sure if angels always used the same vessel. Just because he and Dean had only seen one, didn't mean that Castiel didn't have others. But the expression on the girl's face made him realize this wasn't who she was expecting.

"You're not Castiel," she said.

The man stepped forward; the girl stepped back, one hand beckoning Sam and Dean to do the same. The man just laughed, his receding hairline wrinkling further with effort. "Very smart. Give the girl a prize."

"I know you're a demon." The girl didn't take her eyes off the man. She didn't even blink. "But which one?"

The demon sucked his breath. "Has it been so long that you've forgotten me? That hurts, Mary." He placed a hand over his heart in mock pain.

The girl, Mary, recoiled again. "It can't be..." she whispered.

Sam noticed another figure loitering outside the shop. Mary saw it too. Apparently that figure was a sign of sorts, because in the next instant she'd snatched the .45 from Dean and riddled the demon's vessel with iron bullets. The demon shrieked and fell back, toppling a bookcase. The three humans raced out the shop and into the man outside.

"Castiel!" Mary sounded relieved. She pointed at Sam and Dean. "You have to get them out of here!"

"Hold up," said Dean, "we're not going anywhere. There's a demon in there. We need to get rid of it."

Mary glared at him. "You're not going anywhere near him. I'll finish him off, you too just go home. Castiel can help."

"No," the angel said.

Mary looked at him with eyes wide in astonishment. "Cas, they have to go. What if they get hurt? What if they get killed?"

Castiel placed a hand on the girl's shoulders. Sam noted that she was visibly comforted by the action. He wondered how they knew each other and if the relationship was more than platonic.

"I brought them here. They need to see this," Castiel explained to Mary. She pursed her lips, clearing disapproving of the situation, but nodded in agreement nonetheless.

Dean was very confused by now. "You did this? Why?"

Castiel turned to the two men standing behind Mary. "This is the future Dean. We lost. This is what the world will become if you do not change it."

Sam furrowed his brows. "It doesn't seem so bad. I thought if the demons win we'd be screwed. This just seems... like a ghost town. Not so different from some of the ones we've come across on hunting trips."

"That's because this town's population was obliterated. The buildings remain because they have no purpose. But the people are dead." Castiel's hands remained on Mary's shoulders but his eyes bore into the brothers. Sam shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny. He knew Castiel and the other angels were still wary of him and his demonic powers.

Mary tugged on Castiel's coat. "If you brought them here, then you have to show them."

"Show us what?" Dean piped up.

"Hell on Earth," Mary whispered.

Castiel led the group down a few more blocks to the outskirts of town, where a subdivision sprawled as far as the eye could see. Sam and Dean gasped.

People screamed, bloodcurdling screams Sam didn't even think were possible. Some even sounded inhuman. The entire area was a disaster zone, crumpled houses, flattened trees, fire and smoke everywhere. Sam glanced at his brother, whose face was a mask of fury and pain and Sam realized this was all too familiar for Dean.

"Dean?" Sam asked quietly. The older brother remained silent, his hands balling into fists at his sides. Sam knew he was trying to contain himself.

Mary timidly reached out and gripped Dean's left hand. He looked down at her. She smiled sadly and pressed his hand in empathy.

Dean looked back at the sight before them. "We have to stop this."

"We will," Sam assured him.

"Well, well, well, what he we here?" a voice sneered.

The two brothers, Mary, and Castiel turned. The demon from the bookshop stood about thirty paces behind them, that sadistic grin plastered to its face. "This is quite a reunion," it laughed. "I didn't expect to see you here, Sam. Or you, Dean. Oh, but it has been a while!"

Mary stepped forward. Sam wasn't sure if he should be impressed that she no longer seemed to fear the demon or if he should protect her from the damn thing.

"They're nothing to you. Just let them go back," Mary demanded.

The demon laughed again. "Stupid girl, why would I do that? Why would I let them return to the past and find a way to change this wonderful future?"

Dean snorted. "You call this wonderful? You're sick bastards, the lot of you. We're going to stop you all."

The demon stared at Dean like he was something humorous, a comedian he'd paid big money to see live but was disappointed in the show. Sam was struck by the familiarity of the demon's expression. Perhaps he'd seen the demon before. But they'd exorcised or killed every demon they'd come across, so that wasn't possible. Unless... Sam gasped inwardly. If Hell had won, then all the demons they'd eighty-sixed would have gone topside to plague the Earth. His life, Dean's life, their dad's life, would have all been for nothing.

Mary spoke again, this time to Castiel. "Get them out of here. They've seen what the future is like. If they stay any longer, he'll kill them."

Castiel nodded and reached for the brothers, grabbing each by the shoulder. They were about to leave, Castiel using his "divine influence" of course, when Mary was suddenly lifted off the ground and slammed into the side of a brick house.

"Mary!" all three men yelled.

The girl winced as her head cracked against the wall. She shook the stars out of her eyes and glared at the demon. "You shouldn't have done that," she warned in a low voice.

The demon strode to his prey. Sam itched to kill the damn thing and help Mary out. He sensed Dean fidgeting under Castiel's grasp as well, but the angel wouldn't loosen his grip. They were forced to simply stand by and watch.

"Silly little Winchester," the demon murmured. He ran a hand along Mary's face. She shuddered beneath the touch. "I can't stop them. The timeline cannot be altered. But I can have you. Remember how much fun we used to have, Mary? So much blood. So many screams. Daddy lasted thirty years in Hell before he broke. How long did you last?"

Son of a bitch, Sam thought. Dean abruptly ceased struggling with Castiel and stood, gaping, at his daughter.

In her peripheral vision, Mary saw the realization dawn on her father and uncle. She glanced back at the demon. "I warned you, Azazel." A white flash emanated from her small body and threw the demon backwards. He landed spread eagle several yards away. Mary slumped from the wall, Azazel's telekinetic grasp now slackened, and straightened herself. She stared at the demon, simply stared, her face passive. Her eyes, however, flashed with hatred.

"You half-angel brat!" Azazel spat.

"Wait, what?" Dean sputtered. He looked at Sam with questioning eyes. Sam shrugged and they turned their attention to Castiel. "Care to explain?" Dean asked.

"You'll see," was all that Castiel replied. He increased pressure on the boys' shoulders. A wave crashed through Sam. He thought he was drowning and quickly squeezed hie eyes shut. He knees buckled and for a moment he thought he would fall. Then the feeling passed. Opening his eyes, Sam saw that he was still in the same place, the war zone better known as the worst-case scenario future.

Confused, Sam looked around. Dean stood beside him harboring the same expression. Sam saw Mary standing before the demon, locked in a staring competition. He decided to ask Castiel what the hell just happened, thinking perhaps the angel had meant to send them back. "Cas, what was-" Sam began but he stopped when he saw the angel doubled over. "Castiel!"

Sam and Dean raced to the angel, who for some reason had been shoved away from them and into a nearby yard. Mary's ears pricked up when she heard the concern in Sam's voice. She looked over and her heart leaped into her throat. Sam was supporting a rather weak looking Castiel while Dean interrogated him.

"He won't last much longer," Azazel said.

Mary glared at the demon, a proper glare this time. She lunged at him, twisting his arms behind his back with one hand, the other suctioning to his vessel's forehead. He screamed as she physically exorcised him from the body.

Her job done, Mary ran to Castiel's side. "What the hell happened?" she asked, looking at Sam and Dean in turn.

"No idea," Sam admitted.

Castiel groaned and fell onto his back. Mary caught him just in time to keep his head from hitting the ground. His face was contorted in pain.

"It's poison," Mary realized.

"Poison? You can poison angels?" Dean asked, incredulous.

Mary nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "Demons discovered it two millennium ago but the formula was lost in time. It was rediscovered when they took over."

Castiel's breathing hitched. He hiccuped and clutched Mary's hand. "Go... with...them," he ordered. "Get...out...of...here."

Mary shook her head and whispered no, repeating the word over and over. She rocked on her knees, tightening her grasp on Castiel. Sam and Dean could do nothing but watch as Castiel hiccuped one final time and was still. Mary shrieked and pulled his body, not technically his body but the only thing she had left, to her chest and sobbed.

Dean sat, stunned. Castiel was dead. Unless... "Is this a future version of Castiel? Cuz then he'd be alive in our time."

"Angels don't belong to a single timeline," Mary explained during sobs. "They jump. This is your Castiel, my Castiel, and he's gone." She sobbed harder with that last statement.

Sam awkwardly patted her shoulder and looked at Dean, imploring him to comfort the poor girl. Dean shrugged. She was his daughter, but at the same time, she wasn't. Not yet, anyway. What if she didn't want him to comfort her? Regardless, they had to leave. Dean knew it would be hard to get Mary to leave Castiel's body, but she had to. There wasn't time to mourn. Grief must wait.

"Mary, we need to get out of here. You can mourn him when we're back in our time," Dean said softly. He looked down at the body. "We all can, but not here."

Surprisingly, Mary nodded. "You're right. You have to leave." She carefully placed Castiel on the ground and grabbed the boys' shoulders. Her tear-stained face struck Sam's heart.

"What did you say? No, we have to leave. You're coming with us!" Dean grabbed at his daughter, but Mary swatted his hand away.

"I'm not going anywhere." She stared him hard in the face when she spoke. Sam almost felt like laughing at the Winchester stubbornness. Almost.

Unfortunately for Mary, Dean was equally as stubborn. "Like hell you are! Castiel said you're coming, so you're coming! He didn't want you stuck here in Hell! He wanted a better life for you!"

That made the impression Dean was looking for. Mary sighed, nodded, and shut her eyes tight. Sam and Dean did the same and found themselves drowning again. Then everything went black and Sam felt that whatever Mary had done it had worked the way it was supposed to.

Sam came to with a splitting headache. He rubbed his head and felt blood. Rolling over, he realized he had knocked into the corner of the coffee table in the motel room. They were back in the dingy room on I-80, their burgers untouched on the table, right where they had left them. To his left, Dean was also regaining consciousness. The older Winchester pulled himself into a sitting position.

"Damn that hurt," Dean growled. His eyes grew wide and he threw a fearful look round the room. Sam knew he was looking for Mary. For a moment, Sam feared she hadn't come with them. He didn't see her near the table. But then he spotted a shoe out of the corner of his eye and raced his brother round the queen-sized bed. There, on the floor, was an unconscious brown haired teenage girl.

"Mary," Dean breathed. He squatted and lifted her in his arms then transferred her onto the bed. Sam went to the bathroom to wet a washcloth and placed it lightly on his neice's forehead. Dean stroked the girl's cheek. There was a look in Dean's eyes that Sam saw only on occasions when he himself had been the injured party.

A sudden intake of breath caught Sam's attention. Mary was awake. Her eyelids fluttered until her green eyes could be seen. Dean smiled down at her. "Hey," he whispered. "You okay?"

Mary nodded, then, as though the memories had come flooding back all at once, began to cry. Dean pulled her into a hug and she buried her face in his leather jacket. Dean soothed her, rubbing her back and hugging her tighter.

"He's gone," Mary sobbed. "He's gone."


	2. War Machine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: So this is part two of the Skies on Fire series, as it will be known from here on out. This will be a twelve-part series and will be regularly updated, or as regularly as the holiday season allows.**

Black clouds of smoke rolled heavenwards. She choked and coughed, attempting to clear her lungs. Her throat only burned worse. She fell to her knees and cried out as she landed on something sharp. A splinter of wood lodged itself into her tibia.

Strong arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her onto her feet. She winced as she put pressure on her injured leg. Limping, she allowed her savior to lead her out of the burning building.

Outside, the damage was much more drastic. The roof of the apartment complex caved in with a thunderous roar. Several people on the street screamed and backed away.

"We need to move." Her rescuer, a teenage boy with sunken eyes making him look older than his fourteen years, directed her round the corner and into an alley.

She gingerly slipped to the pavement, carefully positioning her leg so as not to cause any more damage. The boy knelt beside her to inspect the wound. She waved him away. "I'm fine, John," she said.

John frowned. "You need medical attention. Unless you plan to-"

"No!" She shook her head emphatically. "I won't become like them." As if to prove her point, she yanked the splinter out and stifled a scream. The wave of pain that crossed her face did not go unnoticed by John.

"Damn it, Jessica! Why'd you do that? You should have left it in, now you'll bleed to death!" He ripped the lower part of his gray t-shirt into a thick strip and wrapped Jessica's sticky leg.

Jessica's vision swam. "Yeah, maybe that wasn't the best idea," she conceded. She put a hand to her head to steady herself but the whole world seemed to spin around her. She felt dizzy and nauseous and she began to suspect the feelings had nothing to do with her injured leg.

She screamed and squeezed her head harder. John froze, fearful of interfering. He'd seen her like this before and had learned early on to just leave her alone and let the premonitions happen. Still, he held out a shaky hand; Jessica grabbed it and moaned.

The ground beneath them rumbled as the apartment complex they had fled toppled into a heap. John curled around the invalid Jessica, using his body as a shield against the torrent of smoke and ash that billowed from ground zero.

After several long minutes, the air cleared enough for John to release his charge. He exhaled a breath he didn't realize he was holding and looked down at Jessica. She was collapsed in his arms, mouth slightly open, eyes only half shut. Her eyelids fluttered like a child's in REM sleep. The vision still claimed her.

John knew they had to get off the street. He could hear the screams of human victims and the celebratory glee of demons getting closer to their location. Slipping an arm under Jessica's knees and another around her back, he folded her into his chest and ran.

* * *

Mary stared at the paint-chipped ceiling, her eyes unfocused as her thoughts wandered. She could hear Dean snoring from across the room. He was slumped across the queen-sized bed, one hand reaching towards the knife hidden under his pillow. Sam should have been sleeping in the other bed but he had sneaked out earlier when he thought his brother and his niece were asleep. Mary knew he'd gone to Ruby.

Mary flipped onto her side careful not to fall off the couch. Sam and Dean had argued with her about sleeping on the sofa but she refused to take their beds. She didn't want to impose anymore than she'd been doing. The whole situation was still awkward.

Just the other day Dean had sent Sam and Ruby on a hunt so he could spend time with Mary. The young girl knew that if he was willing to send his brother into enemy lines and very real danger then he was serious about establishing a relationship with her. It was slightly unnerving.

He'd taken her to a department store so they could buy her some clothes. Shopping with Dad, that was fun. He was quiet most of the time, except when he asked about the future. But he never asked about her. He was more interested in the demons and the war. Which was for the best, she assumed. She didn't want everything changed, just the bad stuff, and she worried she might accidentally change the good stuff if she said too much.

She watched her father, or the man who would one day be her father, mumble in his sleep. She wondered if it was a nightmare, or a memory of his time in Hell. She knew the feeling. She'd grown up in Hell and now that Castiel was dead- her throat tightened as she held back a sob.

Mary felt agonizing pain whenever she thought of him, her angel. For the first few days after his death, she hadn't been able to suppress the tears. Her grief flowed freely, coaxed by Sam and Dean. They understood she needed to grieve. If she kept it bottled inside it would only be worse in the long run.

Now, though, she'd had time to come to terms with her situation. Castiel was dead, the war was in full swing, and she was stuck in the past. The pain would never recede, but she had to move forward. They couldn't let the demons win this time.

Dean grunted and woke with a start. He blinked several times. "What time is it?"

"Just after three," Mary replied. She pulled herself into a sitting position.

"Where's Sammy?" Dean asked.

Mary rolled her eyes; Dean got the message. "Should have known," he muttered. He copied Mary, rolling his legs off the bed so he was sitting up. "Hope he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Like what? Sleep with a demon or not use protection?" Mary laughed. Dean didn't get the joke. That just made Mary laugh harder. Her cousins would get a kick of this, especially Jessica. Mary's eldest cousin relished the humor in life.

Dean couldn't help but grin. He knew she was laughing at him but it was good to see her laughing. She'd been brooding for so long Dean had begun to wonder if she was even capable of laughter.

"You hungry?" Dean stood and stretched. "There's a twenty-four hour restaurant down the street."

Mary nodded. She hadn't eaten a proper meal in... she couldn't remember how long it had been. She'd been so busy hunting and just trying to survive that it never occurred to her to stop for a moment and enjoy something as simple as food.

She armed herself while Dean went to the bathroom and dressed. The knife, handgun, shotgun, ammo, and rock salt her father had bought her lay on the table before her. Dean had been insistent on buying Mary her own weapons. Not that she was complaining, she'd seen the future and knew that all the necessary precautions must be taken. Besides, in this family, you had to be prepared at all times.

Dean came out of the bathroom and grabbed his wallet off the nightstand. He smiled when he saw Mary loading the shotgun. "That's my girl!"

Mary smiled back. He was trying, even if he didn't quite know what he was doing. He'd practically raised Sam but finding himself face to face with his grown daughter was totally different. He was unsure about how to form a relationship with her. She was trying too but it was hard. She remembered her father in the future, had wonderful memories of him. But Dean hadn't lived those yet and that made things complicated. She couldn't talk to him about his future. He'd have to wait and be surprised and take everything as it came.

* * *

John crouched behind a garden fence. A group of demons strolled down the street, oblivious to the world around them. But John knew better than to make his presence known. The demons staggered along until they disappeared into a darkened house.

Lights popped on allowing John to see into the living room. A middle-aged woman was naked and strapped to a table, a hooded demon standing over her limp form. John could see its lips moving as it chanted then plunged an already blood stained knife into the woman's heart. A part of John was relieved the woman couldn't scream. He didn't think he could stomach it.

"Where are we?" asked a groggy Jessica. She rested on her palms. John noticed her lack of energy. He shushed her and forced her to lie back down.

His attention returned to the house. The demons were quiet now, just sitting in the living room. Except for that couple on the couch. That was just gross in a very necrophilia-ish way. John wrinkled his nose in disgust.

Satisfied that the demons had not caught their scent, John lifted Jessica to her feet. She swayed a moment but recovered and smiled. "You're a wonderful little brother, you know that?" She hugged him. "You take such good care of me, when really I should be taking care of you."

"I don't need someone to watch my half-demon back," John laughed. "You're the one who can't control it."

Jessica playfully swatted her brother. Her vision was finally straight, as was her mind. She was still weak from the blood loss earlier but her leg seemed to be healing itself pretty well. She wouldn't mind a tetanus shot, though.

"Come on." John took his sister's hand and they headed away from the demon infested house.

They stopped for breath a few blocks over. Well, Jessica stopped for breath. She was still recuperating, no matter how much she believed her body could take care of itself. John supported her while she arched her back and took several long, deep breaths.

"I'm good," she said, acknowledging the concerned look on his face.

Once she her lungs felt stabilized, Jessica glanced around. She didn't like their current location. It was too far from where they needed to be, from the place she'd seen in her premonition. She grinned at her brother and pointed left. "That way. Mary's in trouble. Or will be. I wish these damn things came with a countdown."

John nodded and grabbed Jessica's hand again. They zigzagged through the neighborhood until they came across a rather unexpected sight.

Mary sat on her haunches, hands on the shoulders of two men. The girl's face was wet and Jessica realized she'd been crying. Stepping forward, Jessica saw the body on the sidewalk. She gasped and clutched at her brother. "Castiel," she whispered.

Suddenly, Mary and the two men disappeared. Jessica started forward, panicking. "Mary!" she shrieked. John caught his sister as she stumbled over Castiel's body. That's when Jessica lost it.

"Let me go!" she screamed, struggling against her brother. "We have to go after her! We have to help!"

John responded by pulling his sister closer. "Jess, calm down. You'll wake the neighbors." He cast a worried glance down the street. No demons. Yet.

But Jessica was determined. "You don't get it, John! She's in trouble! She went to the past! And if we don't do something to stop it she'll die there!"

* * *

Dean and Mary headed for the restaurant, a cool breeze lifting Mary's long hair. She shuddered. She was reminded of Castiel, of how he would run his hands along her bare shoulders, tickling her sensitive skin just like the wind was doing now.

Dean glanced at her, concerned by her shivering. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just cold I guess."

Dean quickly ushered Mary inside and into a booth, hoping to warm her up. He passed her a menu. Mary found herself slightly disgusted by the greasy meals but since Dean seemed fine with the grub, she decided to go with it, ordering a pork tenderloin sandwich with fries and a large pop.

After the waitress left with their orders, Dean bit his lip. He attempted to broach a conversation but didn't know what to say. "So...um..." He looked at Mary imploringly.

Mary instinctively knew what he wanted to ask. "I don't know if I should tell you about me. I mean, I know we want to change the future and all, but I think it's Mom's business, not mine."

"Oh," Dean said. He played with his fork for a minute. "So you want me to wait and meet your mom and find out naturally that you're my daughter?"

"I think it's best that way." Mary noticed she was playing with her fork too, imitating her father. They smiled at each other.

The waitress stopped by with their drinks. Mary noticed the woman was flirting with her father but for once, shockingly, Dean ignored the very gifted woman in front of him. His attention was solely on his daughter.

"You have a lot to look forward to and I don't want to spoil it. Besides, I don't want to screw up my existence," Mary explained. She sipped her pop. It tasted good.

They sat in silence for a while. Mary had the feeling this was going to be a long night. She remembered a similar occurrence between father and daughter. It was the last time she'd seen him, future him.

Her father had returned home from a three-day hunt and immediately packed to leave again. At nine years old, Mary already understood the ins and outs of the job and was one of the best soldiers their side could have asked for. That scared Dean. He didn't want his daughter raised in that life and he certainly didn't want her involved in the war. But, being a Winchester and half-angel, Mary didn't have a choice.

That night, one of the worst nights of her life, Mary and her cousins watched their parents leave for what was believed to be the final stand. They would win this thing, they just knew it. If they could end the war today their children wouldn't have to fight tomorrow. That was the first time Mary had ever seen Castiel cry.

Mary snapped back to the present when Dean snapped his fingers in front of her face. "You still with me?" he asked.

She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and nodded. "Sorry, just spaced out for a moment. Still trying to get used to all this."

Mary was afraid Dean would ask questions and he looked like he was about to, when Sam and Ruby entered the restaurant, a thankful diversion for father and daughter. Mary saw Dean visibly relax when he spotted his brother and beckoned him and the demon to join them.

"We already ordered, but we can probably flag the waitress." Dean looked around for the woman and finally caught her attention.

While Sam ordered for himself and Ruby, Mary studied the demon. She held Sam's hand in a very cute manner, all the way across the table. This made Mary smile. She remembered how they acted when she was little, when Ruby would stop by for a night or two between battles. She would play with Mary, read her stories, train her even. But Mary had to remind herself that the woman sitting next to her wasn't the same Ruby she'd grown up with. This Ruby had a lot of changes ahead of her.

"What are you two doing here?" Sam asked.

"Couldn't sleep, thought we get something eat." Dean glanced at Ruby. "Looks like you're already full, little brother." Ruby glared at him.

Their meals came and Mary sunk her teeth into a juicy sandwich. It was amazing, the best she'd ever tasted. She'd almost go so far as to say it was orgasmic. Almost. She laughed at the ridiculousness of it all.

"What's so funny?" Dean asked.

Mary shook her head. "Nothing, don't worry about it." She drained her pop and ordered a refill. She could get used to living in the past. Good food was plentiful, they still had a fighting chance, hell, hunts were still just hunts, not overblown battles. The past seemed pretty sweet.

**Author's Note: For those of you who paid attention, several little hints were dropped that will play major roles in future episodes. Did you spot them? Expect part three Sunday evening. With Thanksgiving, I will not have internet access so sorry for making ya'll wait that long!**


	3. Anything Goes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: Part three of Skies on Fire series.**

Dean was worried. He'd been watching Mary all night while she thrashed and groaned and whimpered. He wanted to console her, tell her it was all a bad dream. How do you tell your child that her nightmares are real? He wanted to shield her from evil, the same way he and his dad had tried to shield Sam. Unfortunately in this family, evil would find you and if you didn't grow up fast you'd end up dead real quick.

He sighed and reclined in the motel chair, hands clasped behind his head. Mary had been with them for two weeks now. She'd accompanied the boys and Ruby on a couple hunts, proving her worth many times over. Dean had to admit he was damn proud.

Still, this wasn't the life he would have chosen for his daughter. He understood that his future self hadn't had a choice. The entire family was caught up in the war between Heaven and Hell. Mary was forced to be a soldier strictly because of her paternity and that little fact really pissed Dean off. Just because Mary was half-angel didn't mean she should be subjected to something as harrowing as war. Hell, he didn't even want her hunting, even if she was an asset. That was the whole reason he'd chose to stay with Mary instead of going with Sam and Ruby to exorcise the demon they'd trapped that afternoon.

Mary's eyes shot open. Dean was at her side immediately, crossing the room in three long strides. He stroked back her sweaty hair. "You okay?" he asked quietly.

"I have to go," she whispered.

Dean's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

Mary shook the tears out of her eyes. "I have to go," she repeated, swinging off the bed.

Her nightmares plagued her worse than anything she'd encountered before. She kept seeing the people she couldn't save, the ones who were too far gone to the other side. She'd spent years traveling from town to town liberating anyone she could. But they always got caught again. Nobody ever ran for long. She shuddered at the memories of the times she'd been caught. But worse of all, she relived Castiel's final moments repeatedly and her heart ached. She hadn't meant to think of Castiel, it had just happened. And now the pain threatened to overwhelm her.

She hadn't changed out of her clothes when she'd gone to bed, so she simply headed for the door in her disheveled t-shirt and jeans. Dean grabbed Mary by the arm as she passed him. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Church." With that, she left the motel.

* * *

Jessica continued to swat at her brother. "Let. Me. Go!" She twisted enough so that he was forced to relinquish his grasp or break his arm. Jessica glared. "We have to go back."

"What? Jess, we can't." John was worried about his sister. If she didn't get her emotions under control she wouldn't be able to control her powers and she had a hard enough time with that already. Their parents had worked tirelessly to force their human halves to corrupt and dominate their demon halves but sometimes things happened, like Jessica's visions. There just wasn't any way to control those. Their other latent powers, however, could easily be controlled, as long as they kept their cool. With Jessica teetering on hysterics, John began to worry that might be more difficult than usual.

His sister continued to glare. "You didn't see what I saw." Jessica pointed to another body mere feet away. It was a balding man in trousers, collared shirt, and necktie, a businessman of sorts. John looked to his sister for further explanation. "He was possessed. By Azazel. Mary got rid of him, ending him for good with her angelic abilities. But the seal's about to be broken in the past, the seal that releases the inner circles of Hell. Azazel will hunt our dad and uncle, find out Mary's identity, and kill her."

"But that happened. Dad and Uncle Dean told us about the seal and Azazel when we were kids. If they survived that, how can you be sure Mary won't?" John asked.

Jessica shrugged. "I can't be. All I know is what I saw, and saw Mary pinned to the ceiling."

John rubbed his temple. They were getting in over their heads. He needed time to think and so stooped to examine the body laying prostrate before him. He had to remind himself it was simply a vessel. Regardless, Castiel was dead and that spelled bad news for their side. He was one of their best foot-soldiers. With him dead and Mary time-traveling, their power couple was gone and John had a nasty feeling they were screwed.

"Mary's in trouble, John! We have to help her!" Jessica was raving at this point. She'd lost so much, she couldn't lose her cousin, too. She was determined to do everything in her power to save Mary. In her power... "That's it!" Jessica exclaimed.

John didn't even look up. He was still staring at the body. "What's it?" he asked stupidly.

Jessica clapped her hands as she worked through her brilliant idea. "I'll tap into my powers to send us back!"

Now she had John's attention. He jumped up like he'd sat on a thumbtack. "What!?" he panicked. Jessica had always denied her powers, just as they were taught. He knew she was emotional and therefore the possibility of accidentally using their demonic abilities increased, but never before had she even considered knowingly using her powers. "Jess, you can't use your powers! You know better than that!"

Jessica wasn't listening. She began to pace as she put her plan in motion. "If Mary could do it, I can do it. Course, I might need your powers too, just for a boost. As long as I concentrate on Mary we should get to her with no problem. That's all our abilities are, concentration. We can do anything as long as we think about it hard enough."

"Jess, are you even listening to yourself?" John grabbed hold of his sister. She stopped pacing and looked at him properly for the first time since they'd watched Mary disappear. "We can't use our powers. They're demonic!"

"But if they help-" Jessica began.

"It doesn't matter!" John was furious Jessica would even consider exploiting that half of them. He took a moment to calm down and regulate his breathing before continuing. "I get that you saw something bad happen to our cousin, but she'd kill us, hell, our whole damn family would haunt our asses if we knowingly used our powers."

Jessica's head fell in defeat. She knew her brother was right. They had been warned about their demonic inheritance, threatened even. But they had to do something to help Mary. She was all the family they had left. Jessica couldn't bring herself to write off Mary as a lost cause. No, she was a Winchester, and she'd go to Hell and back to protect her family.

"What the hell?" John muttered. Jessica followed his gaze. Castiel's body was fading. Jessica gaped at the empty pavement where moments before a lifeless body had laid. "I've never seen angels do that before," she said.

"Something very strange is going on," John agreed.

* * *

"If you'd used your powers this would have gone a lot quicker." Ruby grunted under the weight of the bodybuilder she was supporting. What the hell kind of demon possesses a bodybuilder, she thought, they're so jacked up on steroids they don't even have the equipment to fulfill the life of pleasurable sin most demons yearn for.

Sam sighed and repositioned himself under the bodybuilder's other arm. "We're not going through this again, Ruby. I'm done, end of story."

Ruby continued to pout as she and Sam hauled the unconcious man to the Impala. They tossed him in the backseat. Sam growled at her for not minding the guy's head; she simply rolled her eyes and slammed the door. So he might have a concussion? They were heading straight for the hospital anyway, one more injury really wouldn't matter.

A shadow shifted. This caught Ruby's attention. She peered past the car and into the treeline where the shadows continued to move. "Sam," she warned. He glanced in the same direction she was looking. "It's just the wind," he shrugged.

Ruby wasn't so sure. She stood rooted where she was, bracing for the fight. She didn't have long to wait. A huge figure leaped from the trees and tackled her to the ground. She blocked high and knocked her attacker on his back with a quick front snap kick. Sam was ready with the holy water. The demon, its vessel a chubby woman with rolls where Ruby never thought rolls could be, screamed as it burned. Ruby slipped her knife from her pocket and made towards the demon.

"No," Sam ordered. "There may still be a human being in there."

While Ruby and Sam locked glares, the demon regained its strength and lunged at the couple. Sam inhaled sharply as his spine connected with something hard. Ruby took it upon herself to take down the demon, using any means necessary. She blocked low and whipped around with a right-hook before flipping the demon and coming to land on top of him. She sliced his throat and the job was done.

Sam staggered to his feet. "You shouldn't have done that," he said quietly. Ruby turned to him as she pocketed the knife. "I didn't have a choice. We're at war, Sam, casualties will happen. If it wasn't him it would have been us."

They slid into the front seat of the car and sped to the hospital, Ruby dusting dirt off her clothes. She was covered in mud and blood. "Drop him off at the ER then take me to get cleaned up," she moaned.

* * *

Mary remembered passing a little wooden church on their way into town the morning before. It took a few minutes before she got the directions right, but she found it with little trouble. Thankfully, it was unlocked. She wasn't sure how she'd feel if she had to break into a church. Sure, she'd done it before in her time, but that was necessary. She'd needed hallowed ground to hide. But in this time, with the war still in the beginning stages, breaking and entering was probably a sin.

She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The altar loomed dark and welcoming and she raced down the aisle. She paused before the rough oak table that read "In remembrance of Me." Then she broke down.

Castiel was dead. Everyone she'd ever known and loved was dead or in the future. She was alone. She'd never been alone. Her dad or her uncle or her mom or her cousins had always been there during her childhood, and she'd had Castiel for as long as she could remember. Now they were all gone.

"I can't do this without you," she whispered. "I miss you so much. I can't...I just can't." She cried and she sobbed, rocking back and forth on her knees. She saw his body, or his vessel's body, its cold, lifeless skin and faded eyes. The image was ingrained in her mind.

He had been there for her when nobody else was. When the demons took their toll, Castiel had been her rock. He'd nursed her back to health, bandaged and healed the wounds. Their love was inevitable. He knew it and she knew it and they let it happen, regardless of the consequences. But the consequences never came. They eventually learned it was not a sin, it was predestined and they relished it.

She could remember his touch the first time they made love. It never changed over time. He was gentle and soft, almost purring. Sex transcended the physical. Her angel half molded with him until they were one being. It was euphoria and she'd never felt anything like it since. She didn't knock the physical, though. His hands on her thighs, the feel of his hair in her fingers, his hot breath on her lips. He knew exactly where to lick, where to kiss, where to rub. He knew her better than anyone.

Sobs overtook her again. She would never again feel that high, feel him inside her, feel his body tense between her legs. He could no longer hold her when she cried, soothe her agony when her grief became too much. Mary was alone, rightly and truly alone.

A hand rested upon her knee. It was warm and gentle and reassuring. "Stop crying," a soft voice ordered.

Mary looked up. She gasped. "Castiel?" she whispered in disbelief.

Castiel smiled. "Hello, Mary."

A thousand different thoughts raced through Mary's mind but the one that lodged itself front and center was 'Castiel is alive.' Her breathing quickened in excitement and confusion. "How can this be?" she asked. She wanted to reach out and touch him but was afraid this was simply a dream and he would disappear.

"I was sent back to you. He resurrected me and sent me back to you."

Castiel pulled Mary to her feet and brushed hair from her face. Her green eyes, red from crying, bore into his. She felt his heart break at her pathetic sight. "Mary," he whispered, running a hand along her cheek. She melted into his touch.

"You were sent back to me," she breathed. It still seemed surreal. Yet here he was, flesh and blood, standing before her, holding her once again in his arms.

He nodded and pulled her into a tight embrace. Tears flooded her face, tears of joy and anguish and love. Castiel felt the hot tears fall onto his coat and hugged Mary closer. "Don't leave me," she begged.

"Never again." Castiel took her face in his hands and kissed her to seal the deal.

* * *

John and Jessica were back home, attacking every book they could get their hands on, looking for some way to transport themselves to their cousin. Their parents had stocked the study's bookshelves with anything and everything about the supernatural, from mythical creatures to the Koran. Most of the books they'd taken from Bobby's place when he'd died, but there were several John knew had been "acquired."

Nothing in their library seemed to have the answer. Jessica sunk into a battered arm chair, deflated. "What do we do now?"

His sister looked like she was about to cry. John ran his hands through his hair and sighed. They were getting nowhere and running out of time and options. Then he had a thought. It wasn't a good thought but it wasn't a bad thought, either. It was a thought that just might have some merit, if their contact was willing to help. John bit his lip. This particular contact had never really liked the Winchesters and they never really liked him. But everyone knew to put aside their differences for the greater good. And saving Mary, that was definitely for the greater good. Even he would have to concede that their side needed her.

John let out a low whistle. "I think we need to summon Uriel."

* * *

Back in the motel, Sam sat the desk, his laptop flipped open in front of him. He was searching demonic omens while Ruby grabbed a shower. They had safely delivered the bodybuilder to the hospital and, after ensuring he would be alright, quickly returned to their room where Ruby immediately claimed the bathroom for herself. Dean, who had commandeered the television to try and get his mind off Mary, was pacing the room. "Where is she?" he growled.

"Relax, Dean. I'm sure she's fine. She just needs time. Church is probably the best place for her to think, what with her being half-angel and all," Sam said.

Dean sat in the chair opposite his brother. "Yeah, what's with that? I didn't think angels could do it, let alone have kids."

"You screwed Anna," Sam countered. Dean shot the younger Winchester a look. Sam shrugged and resumed his search.

"Anna was different. She was still human."

Sam's fingers hung over the keyboard as a thought hit him. "Dean, you don't think Anna is Mary's mother?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Dude, we did it once when she was human. Even if I knocked her up the kid would be human. So there goes your theory, college boy."

"Yeah, but what if she shows up again in the future? You clearly had feelings for her and she felt something for you. Who's to say...?"

The bathroom door creaked open, relieving Dean. He was beginning to find the conversation redundant and annoying. Ruby stepped out wearing nothing but a towel. She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Sam. "Find anything?" she asked.

"Still looking." Sam clacked away at the keys again. "Clothes are on the bed."

Ruby kissed the top of his head and grabbed the shirt and pants Sam had laundered for her while she showered. She slipped back into the bathroom for a few minutes and returned fully dressed. "Mary not back yet?"

Dean shook his head. He was beginning to worry. Regardless of the timeline, Mary was his daughter and he felt an instinctive urge to protect her.

A giggle resonated from outside the hotel door. For a moment, the trio inside thought a drunken couple had stumbled upon their room. Then the door opened and revealed a very sober and very happy Mary. She grinned at Dean as she led someone into the room. "Look who's back," she said.

Sam, Dean, and Ruby gasped when they saw Castiel.

"But, you were dead!" Dean sputtered. He saw Mary's hand entwined with Castiel's and his eyes narrowed. He knew his daughter had a relationship with the angel but it was his right as her father to be wary. She'd been hurt before when Castiel died and Dean would do anything to shield Mary from that kind of pain again.

"The Lord returned me to Mary," Castiel said simply. Mary squeezed his hand. "And I will not hurt her," Castiel said, looking straight at Dean.

Dean flinched. He hated when Castiel read his mind. He looked at Mary and relented. She was happy, happier than he'd ever seen her. Castiel must be good for her. Dean still swore to interrogate him. "Just what are your intentions with my daughter?"

**Author's Note: For those of you who think I just couldn't bear to kill off Castiel, you just keep thinking that =) I still have a few tricks up my sleeves...**


	4. Decibel

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part four of series Skies on Fire.**

"Uriel!" Jessica gawked at her brother. She wondered if he was high. "What makes you think that dick would help us?"

John admitted Uriel was a long shot, considering their family history, but he was also their only option. "He'd do anything to save Mary," John said. He sincerely hoped that was true. As far as he knew, their side valued Mary over any other soldier. Hopefully that meant they were willing to work with John and Jessica.

"Fine," Jessica huffed. She fell back into the arm chair. "How do we contact him?"

Her brother sighed. That was tricky. When they were younger, all they had to do was call for Castiel or Anna. Uriel, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with them and never answered when summoned. "Doesn't mean he never heard us..." John mumbled. He turned to his sister. "If we call him, he should hear us. We just have to explain the situation and hope he'll respond."

"And if that doesn't work? He's never come before, how do you even know he can hear us?"

John shrugged. He was going on faith at this point. He glanced at the ceiling of his parents' old house and silently prayed this would work. "Uriel! Uriel, I hope you can hear me, it's John Winchester! We need your help! Mary's in trouble!"

He paused and waited. The clock on the mantle ticked away the minutes. John glanced at Jessica and bit his lip. He was beginning to have doubts about his plan.

"What kind of trouble?" a deep voice rumbled from the doorway.

John and Jessica turned to find Uriel, decked out in suit and tie, standing rigidly in the doorjamb between the study and the den. John was uneasy in the angel's presence. Maybe it had something to do with his demon half, or maybe it was all the stories his dad and uncle had told him about Uriel. He knew his uncle especially disliked "the specialist."

Jessica crossed her arms. Just looking at the angel made her blood boil. All those times when her parents had needed divine intervention and he'd never bothered to give a damn, just because Dad was tainted with demon blood and Mom actually was a demon. She narrowed her eyes at the bastard.

Uriel cocked his head at the blond girl standing before him but said nothing. She was not his concern. "Is this about Mary going to the past?"

John nodded. "Sort of. Jessica had a vision of something horrible happening to Mary while she's in the past. We need you to send us back there so we can protect her."

The angel was silent. He closed his eyes and tensed his body. John assumed he was communing with the others. Moments later, Uriel looked hard at John. "Castiel is with her. He can protect her."

"Castiel is dead!" Jessica spat. "How the hell can a dead angel protect our cousin?"

"Castiel was dead," Uriel corrected. John and Jessica exchanged a glance. Sensing their confusion, Uriel sighed and explained. "He was resurrected and sent to Mary. His death took a greater toll on her than was anticipated. She was unwilling to continue the fight without her lover by her side."

Jessica just shook her head. The whole thing was whack. "Even if you sent him back, John and I are the only ones who know what's going to happen. We have to go back and at least warn Mary."

Uriel was silent again and visibly frustrated while he communed. Finally, he looked at the two kids and they realized he'd relented. "It is agreed. You will be sent back to save Mary and change the future." He eyed them suspicously. "We must win."

Jessica snorted in disbelief. "I can't freaking believe this. How can you not trust us? How can you think we like the world the way it is?"

"It is in your nature," Uriel said simply. He looked from one sibling to the other and his expression changed into a smirk. "You think you can fight what you are. You are nothing but demons. You may look human, you may act with good intentions, but you cannot deny what you truly are. One day, you will embrace your true selves and we will be there to stop you."

John could have punched the bastard. "How dare you?" he spoke through gritted teeth. "We didn't choose this. We were born like this and we've lived every damn day of our lives with that hanging over our heads! Do you think we don't know what we're capable of? Do you think we don't walk around this Hell with urges to destroy and kill and maim? It takes everything we have to surpress our demon halves but we do surpress it. That makes us different from the demons."

The boy and the angel locked eyes for what seemed like eternity. Uriel broke his stare first. He glanced at Jessica. "If you can keep your premonition from coming to pass, we may rethink our position on half-breeds."

Jessica nodded, more to appease him and speed things along than agree to the terms and conditions of the contract. Every moment they wasted in the future Mary was coming closer to her death in the past.

* * *

Somersaulting out of the way of a vengeful spirit, Mary couldn't help but grin. She loved hunting, proper hunting, not the gut-wrenching battles between Heaven and Hell that dominated her life. This was cut and dry: shotgun full of rock salt, some kerosene, and a cemetery. This was a hunt.

She sensed more than heard the spirit approaching from behind and swung the twelve-gauge level with its abdomen. It screeched as it came into contact with the rock salt and dissipated.

"Nice shot," Dean complimented. Mary beamed and tossed a match into the freshly dug grave.

This was their first hunt as father and daughter and it had gone off rather well. Sam had been pretty persistent about coming along but Dean refused his little brother's assistance. He wanted to spend time with Mary and try to figure out their relationship. Luckily, Ruby was able to convince Sam to stay behind with her at the motel room. Yeah, luckily was the word Dean was looking for.

Getting Mary away from Castiel had been more difficult. She positively refused to let him out of her sight and rarely out of her grasp. The first night Castiel returned, he and Mary disappeared somewhere, though Dean had a sinking suspicion it was to a motel room a few doors down from the one he shared with his brother. The good thing about Castiel was that he was so busy dealing with the seals it didn't take long for him to find an excuse to leave Mary alone with her father.

Mary smirked. Dean was easy to read. His set jaw and slight tick of his eyes was stereotypical of fathers with pretty teenage daughters. Not that he has any reason to worry about me, Mary thought, I'm dating an angel for crying out loud, that's pretty hard to top. She found herself reminiscing on her first night with Castiel since his resurrection. He burned in her hands, feverish and impatient. His roughness, bordering on abuse, had frightened her at first. She fearfully shrank back towards the headboard. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He shook and collapsed on all fours. Mary slowly made her way towards the terrified being and lifted his chin. His eyes betrayed his fear- fear of losing her, fear of leaving her. He was so scared for her that he had lost himself in his emotions and, unable to properly express his emotions, had channeled his fear into his treatment of her. She lightly kissed his temple and pulled him on top of her, running a pale hand down his thigh. He cried on her breast until his fear was washed away. They refused to separate for the rest of the night.

The ride back to the hotel began uneventfully, until Dean blasted AC/DC from the Impala's speakers and caught Mary singing along. She laughed at the grin on his face. "You only have yourself to blame," she said.

"Apparently I raised you right." He smiled at her then returned his attention to the road. He felt like he was making progress but in what direction he couldn't be sure. They trusted each other, that much he knew to be true. He figured that was the most difficult hurdle and now that they'd jumped it, they could find common ground as... As what? Father and daughter? Dean didn't expect that to happen overnight. Mary knew a different version of him and he, well, he was just out of the fatherhood loop entirely.

"What are you thinking about?" Mary asked. Dean had a look of concentration on his face that Mary recognized instantly. He was worried about something, not life or death something, but something important nonetheless.

Dean eyed his daughter, unsure if he should broach the topic. Her intense green eyes looked at him expectantly and he suddenly realized she idolized him. She had the same expression Sam wore growing up. Dean knew he couldn't lie to her because in that instant he realized that she was his daughter, even if she was out of her time, and he loved her desperately. "It's just.." he began slowly, carefully choosing his words, "I know that you're my daughter and you know that I'm your father but at the same time, we aren't anything to each other."

Mary lowered her gaze but didn't say anything. Dean chewed his lip before continuing. "I want you to know, regardless of where our relationship stands at this very moment, that you are my daughter and I love you and I'm damn proud of you."

Tears welled up in Mary's eyes. She lunged across the car and hugged him. Dean was so surprised it took all his willpower to keep from swerving the car.

* * *

Neon lights blinked, crackling with energy. The night air was hot and suffocating and still. Then a ripple began, slow at first, then faster and faster across the motel parking lot. Two slight figures fell out of the darkness and onto the pavement and the air was still once more.

Jessica rolled onto her back. Her head throbbed something fierce and her palms felt raw. She could feel the abrasions when she rubbed her hands together. "That's gonna hurt in the morning," she muttered bitterly.

"I think it is morning," John mumbled. He pulled himself up from his stomach and looked around. "Where the hell are we?"

A car rumbled in the distance but Jessica could tell it was getting closer. She began to think lying in the middle of the road wasn't the best idea, so she crawled onto the sidewalk, followed closely by her younger brother. Jess leaned back into a wall and craned her neck to see where they were. A row of heavy wooden doors, each with a peeling number painted on the front and identical drapes in the windows, greeted her sight. Must be a hotel, she surmised.

The car they heard earlier pulled into the lot and parked several spots down from where Jessica and John were sitting in the shadows. They watched a man with short dark hair slip out of the driver's seat and adjust his leather jacket. He glanced at the girl jumping out of the passenger's seat, her boots hitting the ground with a dull thud.

"Oh my God," Jessica squealed, pointing at the man. "Is that Uncle Dean?"

John peered into the distance. "Well, that's definitely the Impala. And he looks like..." John gasped and vaulted up, pulling his sister with him. "It's Mary!"

Jessica whipped around her brother and squealed. "Mary!" She raced down the sidewalk. John stood dazed for a moment then quickly followed the very eager sixteen-year-old.

* * *

Mary clung to her father like her life depended on it, silent tears rolling down her pink cheeks. She'd lost him in the future and found him in the past. She was determined not to lose him again. If she could find a way to change her future and never face the pain of losing her parents, by God she would. For months after that night, she lived as though dead. She was a shell of the bright child she had been. Seven going on eight years later, she was no longer a shell and no longer a child. She was a warrior and a lover and finally, a daugher again.

"Alright, kiddo," Dean laughed. Mary got the hint and released him from her grasp. She wiped her face dry. "Sorry," she said. She smiled at him. "I guess I just got carried away."

Dean wasn't sure what she meant by that but decided to shrug it off. Mary was mum about his future, and her future by association, and he wouldn't force her to talk about a subject that was uncomfortable for her. "Don't worry about it," Dean assured her. "I'm your dad, you're allowed to hug me. Except in public. I do have a reputation, you know."

Mary just laughed. She remembered hearing all about Dean's "spare time" as Mom referred to it. Apparently he was quite the womanizer. But that was before he hooked up with Mary's mother. After that, he only had eyes for one woman, although Mary stole his heart. She always was a Daddy's girl.

They pulled into the motel parking lot, Dean jumping out of the car before the engine even died. Mary sat a moment longer, studying her father. He wasn't very physically different from the last time she'd seen him eight years ago. A few pounds lighter and clean shaven, but he was still Dean Winchester. And he was still fiercely overprotective of her and Sam.

Mary groaned inwardly as she stepped out of the Impala. She knew she hadn't landed properly after that stupid somersault. She thought she might have bruised a bone. Shutting the car door, she winced as she threw out her arm. "Ya'll better have good painkillers in this decade."

A high pitched voice caught Mary's attention. She paused by the car. She recognized the voice but didn't think it possible. Perhaps her mind was playing tricks on her. She missed her cousins so much maybe her subconscious had finally snapped. That was it, she must be hearing voices.

Then she heard the heavy footsteps of someone running and pivoted. "Jessica?" she asked breathlessly. It couldn't be, no it was impossible. Jessica couldn't be here, she was in the future with her brother. And there, running mere feet behind his sister, was John.

Mary stood frozen in astonishment before her brain caught up with the unfolding scene. She shrieked in delight and threw her arms around her female cousin. Once John finally caught up, Mary pulled him into the hug, too. "What the hell are you two doing here?" Mary asked into their hair.

They separated but continued to hold hands. "We had to come help you," Jessica explained. Her face was shining. Mary knew her's was, too.

"Mary." Dean strode up behind his daughter. "These friends of yours?"

Jessica had to stifle a giggle. John was surprised Dean didn't notice the family resemblance. Mary shook her head and laughed. "Just get Sam and Ruby out here. They'll want to hear this."

Dean was curious but did as he was told. Sam and Ruby stepped out onto the sidewalk looking very perplexed. John and Jessica's eyes went wide and they squeezed each other's hand. Mary couldn't contain herself as she introduced them. "These are my cousins, Jessica and John."

Sam's jaw hit the floor. He was looking at his kids, his future, grown-up kids. He looked them up and down, satisfying himself that this wasn't a trick. It couldn't be. John was the spitting image of his father, and Jessica looked just like her grandmother, blond hair and all. But there was something about the both of them that Sam couldn't put his finger on. They were Winchesters, that was for damn sure, just the way they carried themselves and their cheeky grins was enough to assure him of that fact. It was the expression in their eyes that made Sam pause. He had a very worried feeling that their eyes would turn pitch black at any moment and that such an event would be a commonplace occurence.

John and Jessica spoke in unison. "Hi Uncle Dean... Dad... Mom."


	5. Black Ice

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part five of the series Skies on Fire.**

Death, it smelled of death. All around, in every corner, in every nook and cranny, the odor of festering flesh reeked and wafted and hung in the air. He inhaled deeply, savoring the taste with his heightened senses. It was his favorite fragrance.

He opened his black eyes and slowly cast his gaze around the gathered assembly. They were nothing compared to him yet they were necessary. The first stage rested upon their shoulders. He would save his energy for the grand finale.

"You have your orders," he hissed. They didn't need to be told twice. They feared him and disappeared from his presence before he had time to blink.

He smirked at their absurdity. They were weak creatures and would be the first casualties of war. None would mourn them. They were easy to replace.

A new aroma tickled his nostrils. He frowned. He had difficulty identifying the smell. It was not death, it was not pain, it was not anger. It more substantial than anything he had previously known. It was... angelic.

He seethed and roared and the ground beneath his feet began to rock. The tremors intensified until the very walls of the cavern shook and vomited russet brown soil. The other side had done something, a big something, and he felt the balance tip in their favor.

His orders were simple: stay low until the predetermined time. But the gloves were off now. Those damn angels were playing a dangerous game and he would ensure that they lost. At all costs.

* * *

Sam was speechless. Not only were his future son and daughter standing in front of him, but they had just revealed the identity of their mother, the demon he'd been sleeping with for the past several months. He glanced at Ruby, who was equally shocked. Dean looked like he couldn't decide between thumping his baby brother on the back for a job well done or throttling him. Sam figured either outcome would be appropriate.

Before a proper reunion could be held, Jessica had a job to complete. "Sorry to just barge in on you like this but we need to talk to Mary here." Jessica wrapped a hand around her cousin's wrist and tugged. "Nice to see you guys." She tugged harder, forcing Mary to stumble forward and follow the youngest Winchesters down the sidewalk.

The brothers and Ruby were left in silence outside their motel room. Sam's mind was working overload to the point that it was blank. He had kids. And they were here, in their past and his present. And they were half-demon. How the hell did that happen? A brief image of rolling around in bed with Ruby flashed before his eyes. He knew how it could happen he just didn't know demons could even have children. If he had, he would have thought twice about using a condom.

"So you knock up the demon bitch?" Dean snorted. "God, Sammy, are you really that stupid?"

Sam shot his brother a death glare. "At least I know who the mother of my future children is." He tightened his grasp on Ruby's hand. "Course, I didn't know we even could conceive," he said pointedly at Ruby. She shrugged. "It's been known to happen, it's just rare. We don't need a breeding program when we have willing souls," she said.

That shut Dean up. He stalked back to the room, shoulders hunched. Sam moved to follow but Ruby stopped him. "He needs space," she explained. Sam nodded reluctantly and leaned against the wall. He stared at Ruby. She didn't appreciate the scrutiny. "What?"

"You haven't said anything," Sam commented. "Our kids just showed up on the doorstep and you didn't even acknowledge them."

Ruby crossed her arms. "They didn't give me a chance. They just ran off."

"Yeah, what was that about?" Sam scratched his chin. It was an odd situation. Well, more odd than it should have been. Why had Mary, John, and Jessica ditched them like that? What "job" did they need to complete? Whatever it was, he was sure they would need help, his and Dean's and Ruby's help. That's what family was for, after all. He sighed. "Guess we'll just have to wait and find out when they come back." He didn't add _if_ they came back.

* * *

He hadn't surfaced in centuries. An exact count was unattainable and unimportant. He was revered in the proper circles, feared by the weakest weaklings, and respected by all creatures beneath him. His power was mythical and boasted unimaginable possibilities. Earth was little more than a nuisance to him; he never desired to frequent with the humans like so many of his brothers and sisters.

But today, for the first time in recorded history, he inhaled fresh air. Car exhaust and cigarette smoke greeted his olfactory senses. This was similar to home and he felt comfortable in this world.

He kicked out his left foot. The fool whose body he inhabited was athletic, captain of the varsity cross-country team. He remembered seeing the trophies in the boy's room. The foot crashed to the ground and he found it could bear his weight. He tried the right foot. It too worked as it was supposed to, ligaments and muscles and bone interacting with one another to facilitate movement. He grinned. He liked movement. Perhaps his siblings had the right idea.

A glass panel gleamed from the building next to him. It was a large window, glittering under the streetlamps and reflecting the colorful images that were projected on the sleek black boxes on display. One box showed a bombed out mosque in the Middle East. He recognized the location. He had given the order just days earlier. On another box, funny little words scrolled beneath a bespectacled man who spoke rapidly. The words, which were English type, mentioned something about an Amber Alert. A little girl had gone missing from her house, presumably by her estranged father who was embroiled in a custody battle with the girl's mother.

He laughed at the images. He saw disease in Africa, flooding in Middle America, drug lords in Colombia. It thrilled him to witness such human violence and malevolence. No wonder so many went to Hell. It must remind them of home, he thought.

The soft wind carried voices to his ear. One, a female, young by the sound of the pitch, mentioned something about dying in the past. He was intrigued. They must be the disturbance he felt. He tracked it to this very location and- his eyes blazed. He smelled an angel.

He noiselessly followed the voices to three similar looking teenagers. The brunette girl was shaking her head in disbelief while the blond chatted away, allowing no one else the chance to speak.

"We watched you disappear with Dad and Uncle Dean and I just knew we had to follow you here and warn you because we can't lose you, Mary, we just can't!" the blond girl was saying. She paused for breath and quickly continued. "So John and I looked through all the books in Dad's study and found nothing and we can't use our powers, though we thought about it, let me tell you-"

The brunette boy coughed and interrupted. "You thought about using our powers, I put my foot down."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever, John, we all know you're a goody-two shoes, don't make it worse for yourself." The brunette girl chuckled at this. The boy glared at them both.

What was this about powers? What kind of powers did they have that they didn't want to use? He sniffed again. Yes, he definitely smelled angel. It was the brunette girl, she reeked of it. But the other two, they were different. They were demonic.

His eyes flashed. Why were demons associating with that thing? Those two would be executed for treason, that was fact. Then something else caught his attention. The blond demon called the brunette angel "cousin." There was genuine concern in her silky voice. What the hell was going on?

* * *

Mary gripped her cousin's hand. "I know you are only doing what you think is right, and I thank you for your concern, but you're risking everything by being here."

"And you're not?" Jessica snorted. They had gone to all that trouble to warn Mary about her possible impending death and she was reprimanding them for giving a damn!

"I am here on orders-"

"So are we," John retorted. His young face was furrowed in resentment and annoyance. "Uriel sent us back here so we could warn you about Jessica's vision."

Mary raised an eyebrow. She knew as well as anybody Uriel's opinion of her cousins and their parents. She also knew there was no way in hell he would help them unless the situation was serious. And serious for Uriel usually had something to do with her well-being. It took all her willpower to not roll her eyes. Uriel's idea of Mary's well-being tended to be biased. He only tolerated her because she was necessary, because she was a good soldier. He wouldn't have gone to the trouble of assisting her half-demon cousins if she wasn't useful. "Look," Mary sighed. "I appreciate this, I really do, and I'm sorry you guys had to go to Uriel for help and I really am glad to see you, it's just..." She faltered. She didn't know how they would react if she voiced her fears. Finally she built up courage and said, "Your vision is only a fraction of the problem at hand. Something is happening, something that didn't occur in our pasts and Castiel and I think it may have something to do with me, and now you, being here."

Jessica gasped. "Castiel really is alive?" She noticed Mary's amazement. "Uriel told us. And we saw his body disappear. It was weird, which considering who we are and what we do is not something I say on a regular basis."

"He's very much alive. They resurrected him and sent him to me. Not sure what they means, but I'm not complaining," Mary grinned. Jessica wiggled her eyebrows. "Didn't realize angels were that good in bed," she giggled. Mary whacked her cousin on the arm with a grunt. John grimaced at the visual image that popped into his head.

"We should get back before the folks worry," John said. The girls nodded. "They're Winchesters, worrying comes with the territory," Mary said.

* * *

He barely contained his fury. It all made sense now, the demon children who called the angel "cousin." They shirked from their powers because they had been raised to fear what they were, raised by the same lousy human who feared his own abilities and the traitor who shared his bed. And the other girl, who purity radiated from the sinful meat-suit of the lowly creatures prized above all others. She could only be the daughter of the eldest brother, the one who was chosen among millions to be saved from the pit, the one for whom the other side lay great, yet unknown, plans.

He watched the three hunters round the corner opposite of his location and he followed. He had a hunch they would lead him to his quarry, for he had a plan. Destroying these pathetic excuses for demons would never ensure victory, not when he knew from their conversation, from the pain and fear he smelt on their skin, that his kind had won and these brats would change that. No, he could not let the angels win.

The kids joined a couple loitering outside a motel room. He grinned. Identifying his quarry, even at this great distance, was no difficulty. He would kill the sires and eliminate the threat in one swift action.

* * *

Sam heard footsteps and turned around. John, Jessica, and Mary were heading up the sidewalk and back to their parents. John smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Sorry about that, we just had to discuss logistics."

"Logistics?" All three children looked at Ruby. This was the first time she'd spoken to them since John and Jessica had arrived. She appeared less dazed than when they'd dropped the bombshell but John could tell she was still wary of them. She'd spent several weeks with Mary and he suspected his mother continued to have reservations regarding his cousin, too.

John figured since he'd brought it up he should explain. "Us being in the past could pose some problems and we needed to assess the risks, as well as discern what Mary already told you. We can't tell you everything about the future, you know. Some things can't be changed and there are some things we just don't want changed."

Sam could agree with his son's logic. For one so young, John was pretty smart. Sam figured that had something to do with the face that he'd grown up not just in a war zone but as a soldier. He had a difficult time swallowing that information. He wasn't sure he wanted his son raised in this life. He had to smile at that thought. His son. And standing beside the brunette boy was his daughter, looking almost giddy. Now he knew how Dean felt when Mary first showed up in their lives.

"Where's Dad?" Mary inquired. Sam jerked his head towards the motel room. "You can see him if you want but I don't know if he'll be communicative. Ruby said something that reminded him of Hell and he just shut down," Sam explained.

Mary nodded. John watched her glide into the room, the wood door creaking on its rusty hinges. If anyone could get through to Dean, it was Mary. She understood better than anyone what Dean had gone through. John had to blink several times to stop from crying. Normally, he was very skilled at forgetting Mary's one-year kidnapping. But then times like this, when he was forcibly reminded of what she had to endure, he could barely handle it.

"So..." Jessica scuffed the ground with her shoe. John knew what she was thinking- awkward. They hadn't seen their parents in eight years and Sam and Ruby were never really around before then anyway. Not that John or his sister resented their parents. They were fighting a war to protect their kids and change the world for better. He admired them, he loved them, he respected them. He just didn't know them.

Jessica looked into the faces of her parents. They, too, seemed at a loss for words. John thought he might broach a conversation, not something difficult or convoluted, but just anything to break the silence. "How long have you two been together?" he asked. Might as well talk about them, that was a subject they could discourse upon. Besides, that information would help John and Jessica know when they were.

"About eight months," Sam said. He smiled at Ruby and took her hand in his. She smiled back.

John did the math in his head. "So this is 2009 then? Well that's just..." He glanced at his sister with wide eyes and a "this-could-be-a-problem" expression. "...peachy," he finished.

"Don't you love walking around when you haven't even been born?" Jessica emphasized the last three words solely for her brother's benefit. Sam and Ruby were oblivious to the hidden meanings behind this exchange.

"You guys gonna-" Sam began, intending to invite his children to join their past family. He wasn't sure why they were in the past or if they would even stay with the family or even how long they intended to stay, but he hoped they would accept. He wanted to get to know them and he saw in their eyes that they wanted to get to know their parents too.

But Sam didn't get a chance to ask because right at that moment a scrawny kid, with blond tufts of hair and a letterman jacket that was several sizes too big, vaulted into the middle of their little group and knocked them all to the ground.

"What the hell is your problem kid?" Sam shouted. It never occured to him to wonder how the gangly teen could send four people slamming into the sidewalk.

John groaned and looked up in time to see a blurry figure slam its tennis shoe on his throat. He choked and flailed and then everything went black.

* * *

He eyed the unconscious boy and gave one more quick thrust to his throat, just to make sure he stayed down. Then he turned his sights on the female demon behind him. She struggled to her feet, eyes pure black. He laughed. Her attempt to look menacing was more than pathetic, it was tasteless. He flicked his hand and sent her across the parking lot.

It felt brilliant to use his powers once again. Only in corporeal form could he conduct such force. He hadn't gotten his hands dirty in centuries and had long ago forgotten the feeling of taking life into his own hands, the intoxicating power of holding life and death in the balance.

Now the teenage girl and her future father were on their feet. He opted to go for a more physical approach and balled his hands into fists. The girl was down in a single punch, blood streaming from her broken nose. He heard a reassuring snap as her neck fell back and her body slumped to the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" The tall man yelled and lunged.

He easily tossed the human into the wall of the motel building. A croaked gasp caught his attention. The boy was coming to. He had to act fast, he couldn't spend all night toying with the family. He crossed the parking lot and grabbed the female by her hair. Her eyes were human again and hinted at confusion. She didn't recognize him. He wasn't sure if he should feel offended. Perhaps she was simply too young to know him. Maybe that's why she turned traitor and fraternized with the humans. She must have retained some of her humanity.

He said nothing, it would have been too cliche. He merely placed a hand on her forehead and closed his eyes and opened his ears to drink in the sounds of her screams.

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews for this series! For EnglishLass and Spuffyshipper, who seem most interested in Mary's parentage, I can promise that all will be revealed in Part Seven, Rocking All the Way.**


	6. Spoilin' for a Fight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part six of the series Skies on Fire. Thanks for all the reviews!**

Mary slipped into the motel room, softly shutting the door behind her. It was dark and musky, plywood furniture stained a deep rust color, the ratty couch all spotted and freckled in retro styling. The only illumination was slants of moonlight boring through a moth-eaten curtain. She spotted her father sitting on the far bed. He simply sat there, boots planted squarely on the floor, his hands lying outstretched on either side of him.

"Dad?" she cautiously asked. He nearly jumped and spun around. She saw a smile creep to his cracked lips. That was the first time she'd called him "Dad" to his face and it warmed her heart knowing the joy she'd brought him. "Dad," she asked again, "are you alright?"

He allowed the smile to overtake his face and motioned her to sit beside him. "Totally alright." He wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her tight. "Everything okay with your cousins?"

She nodded as he released her. "Yeah, we just had to discuss some stuff. Being in the past, you can change things that aren't meant to be changed. You have to be careful."

Now it was his turn to nod. "I get that." Mary vaguely remembered that he too had been sent to the past, to discover the truth about their family's connection to Azazel. But he rarely talked about that event. He never revealed details, not to her anyways, and had only ever told her the basic summary.

They were quiet for a moment. Mary took the lull in conversation as an opportunity to study Dean. There was something troubling him, something she hadn't noticed earlier. She wondered if the change had to do with what Ruby had said. If that was the case, he had every right to bear that extra weight on his shoulders. That was something she understood very well.

She took a deep breath. This was the single event in her past that she never discussed. But if it could help her father then she would swallow her own pain to take the edge off his. "Uncle Sam said you stormed in here after Aunt Ruby brought up Hell." She studied him for a reaction and received none. She decided to push forward. "I know that's a difficult subject for you and I'm sorry to bring it up again, but I think you'd be better off if you talked about it."

Dean shook his head violently. "No," he all but shouted. He looked hard at Mary. "I won't talk to Sam about it and I sure as hell won't tell you. You don't need to know."

Mary lowered her eyes and spoke in a whisper. "I already know."

She saw Dean start. She felt him tense and knew exactly what he was thinking- his future self told her about Hell and now his current self was hating himself for it. "What did I tell you?" he asked.

Mary remained quiet. She was almost fearful to tell him the truth. It would enrage him and it would kill him. He already had so many burdens she couldn't bear to add to it. But if they found common ground perhaps she could relieve some of his pain and that was worth everything.

Her silence was too much for him. He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, his emotions taking control, and forced her to look into his eyes. "What did I tell you?" he demanded.

"Nothing," she choked. She felt hot tears brimming in her eyes.

"Then how do you-" He paused as the realization dawned. His eyes grew wide in horror and he dropped her back onto the bed. When he spoke, he shook with anger, fear, and undying love for his little girl. "You've been there."

* * *

Ruby knew she was dying. The pain as she was forcibly removed from her human vessel was so intense she was sure it would destroy her before she ever reached oblivion. She fought as hard and for as long as she could but she knew it was futile. This demon was more powerful than any she had previously known. It had ancient abilities, similar to those possessed by the angels- it would not only send her back to Hell, it would not only kill her, but it would erase her from time and space.

It was too much. She saw her essence leaving the body, she felt it wash across the sticky tar of the pavement and churn within the confines of Earth. Once she was fully free of the body she would float, a large black mass of matter, until the demon saw fit to end her permanently. But for the moment, she remained bound to her vessel and able to control its faculties. Out of her peripheral vision she could still see the motel and the Impala, Jessica's broken body lying on the ground, Sam's limp form slumped against the motel wall, and John... she couldn't see him. She was puzzled. He had been lying by his sister not a moment before. Where the hell was he?

Her question was answered almost before she finished the thought. Something had knocked the demon's hand away from her forehead and she gasped as her escaped essence returned. She shook stars out of her eyes and brought her vision into focus. John was wrestling with the demon. Ruby noted how weak he looked. He needed help, fast.

She rushed to her son's side. The demon had flipped John onto his back and straddled the boy, clutching at his throat with both hands. Ruby grasped the demon by his waist and pulled. Startled, the demon found itself spread eagle feet from its prey. "Stay the hell away from my son," Ruby warned. John looked up at her and grinned.

Together, mother and son lashed out at their attacker. The demon seemed surprised at their persistence. He blocked best he could but his martial arts skills were lacking. He was still getting used to a human body and had not yet acquired the knowledge needed to physically defend himself. He chose to rely on his powers and raised his hand a fraction of an inch. Suddenly, _he_ was flying through the air. He landed hard on a concrete barrier in the middle of the parking lot.

Ruby watched the demon wince and enjoyed with sick fascination as it realized its human limitations. She glanced at Sam. His arm was outstretched and he pointed at the demon. He caught Ruby's eye and smiled. "You two okay?" Sam asked. John and Ruby nodded.

Sam and Ruby headed towards the demon while John ran to his sister. He knelt down and cradle her head in his hands. She had no pulse and her neck was snapped. "Jessica," he whispered. He hugged her body to his chest and began to cry. His big sister was dead. That's when it hit him- Uriel had only agreed to send them back so Jessica could warn Mary of her vision. Jessica had no other destiny than to save their cousin, the angels' warrior.

No, it couldn't be right. That couldn't be Jessica's destiny, not when she was capable of so much more, not when they still a job to finish. They had to save their family, they had to change the hell that was their life. He couldn't do it alone. He needed his big sister. She always had the answers. "What do I do?" he sobbed. "Jess, tell me what to do."

He watched his mom's eyes go black and his dad telekinetically lash out at the demon possessed track captain (the gold embroidery on his jacket gave away that little detail). Then John realized what an idiot he had been. He had been raised to shun his powers but now he watched his father's hypocrisy. When it came to family, they would do anything. John looked down at his sister. "Forgive me."

He shut his eyes and tapped into his latent half. He felt a power surge build and build and build and finally release in an ecstatic roar. His eyes snapped open to reveal pitch blackness as raw power flowed from his fingertips and into his sister's still body.

* * *

Dean gaped. Mary hastily looked away but he pulled her by her chin and turned her back around. "How?" was all he said.

Mary swallowed fresh tears with her pain. "Hell on Earth is more like demonic terraforming. Hell still exists below, they just created Hell two-point-oh above. They'd take people and torture them, just for fun. Still do, in my time. It's like baseball to them." She let the tears slip down her pink cheeks. No use holding back now. Dean wiped them away with his thumb. Mary bit her lip and continued. "After... after our parents disappeared, me and John and Jessica went out to continue the family business, you know, hunting things, saving people, that sort of thing." She expected Dean to interrupt when she mentioned his disappearance. She was greatly relieved when he didn't. Mary wasn't sure she could go off on a tangent and go back to talking about Hell. She had to get it all out in one shot or no go.

"We kept getting caught by the demons. You can guess what happened then." Mary glanced up to see her father's grim face. "But when I was twelve they sought me out. They kidnapped me. Do you know what how valuable a half-angel is down there? John and Jessica and even Castiel had no idea what happened to me. It took them a year to learn the truth of my whereabouts."

She didn't say anything more. She didn't have to. Dean understood what she implied with her silence. He hugged her again, tighter this time, as though he was afraid to let go, as though just holding her close could make the pain go away. She sunk into her father's embrace and sobbed. Something wet dampened her hair and she realized Dean was crying too.

They stayed like that for a while. Mary didn't bother to keep an accurate check of the time. She felt her father stroke her hair and was comforted. She could have stayed with him forever, never fearing she would lose him again.

Dean pulled back and looked his daughter in the face. "I'm sorry," he said. "I swear to you I won't let that happen again."

A sudden loud bang jolted them back to reality. Something must have hit the outer wall to cause the room to shudder. With one glance at one another they bolted out the door and onto the sidewalk.

Mary gasped at what she saw. A blond teenage boy whose legs were too long for the rest of his body was pinned to the wall. Ruby and Sam stood threateningly in front of him. "He's a demon," Sam explained to his brother and niece. Mary stuck out her bottom lip in a pout of understanding. "I got him," she said as she strode to the demon. She slapped a hand on his forehead and moments later the deed was done. A scared looking high-school student fell into her arms. She passed him to Dean. "Take him home."

Dean heaved the boy to his feet and led him to the Impala. While they sped off, Mary turned her attention to her cousins. Jessica rested in her brother's arms, weakly smiling at her family. John's fingers were still sparking. Mary raised an eyebrow; John shrugged. He had used his powers to revive Jessica and Mary was, surprisingly, grateful. She couldn't lose anyone else.

Sam lifted his daughter into his arms and carried her to the motel room. He carefully placed her on the bed nearest the door. "How you feeling?" he asked as Ruby, John, and Mary entered.

"I'm okay. Been better, but I don't think I have much right to complain," Jessica smiled. She twisted her neck from side to side, working out the kinks. Her body was whole again and functioning properly.

"What did you do?" Ruby asked Mary. "I've seen angels pull that stunt before but I'm still not sure exactly what that power is."

Mary flopped into the motel armchair. "It's a power straight from God. Angels have the ability to channel it. It doesn't just kill demons like the Colt does but it obliterates them. There's no coming back from that."

Sam snorted. "Demons can't come back from death, either."

Mary just looked at him. Sam sighed. "What?" he asked. Mary rolled her eyes. She thought he was smarter than that. "When you exorcise demons they go back to Hell but can always claw out again, right?" she directed the question to her uncle; he nodded. "Well, when you kill them all you are really doing is sending them into a deeper level of Hell that is more difficult to get out of. It's rare, but it's possible." She glanced at her cousins. Their faces were grey. They knew she was talking about Azazel. "But when we send them to oblivion that is God's work and that cannot be undone."

This information was generally accepted and they turned their attention back to Jessica. "You sure you're okay?" Sam inquired once again. Jessica nodded and said exasperatedly, "Yes, Dad." Sam grinned.

"Are you alright?" John asked Ruby. She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Fine," she said. There was a look in John's eyes that concerned Ruby. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Sam looked at John now and noticed the same haunted expression. "John?" he asked. John glanced up at him then at his sister and cousin. He let out a deep breath. "It's just, I was afraid we were gonna lose you guys again. I can't go through that again, Jessica can't go through that."

"How do you mean lost us?" Sam asked curiously. Now Mary jumped into the conversation. "You disappeared. That's all you need to know." Sam frowned at his niece. "Look," Mary said, "you don't need to know the details because us three are going to personally make sure it doesn't happen."

Jessica jumped off the bed and hugged her father. "We promise we'll keep you safe," she said. She pulled out of the embrace as her stomach gurgled. "If that's all we need to discuss then will somebody please point me in the direction of a hamburger? I'm starving."

* * *

With their son and daughter comfortably wolfing down sandwiches at a local diner, and their niece politely leaving with the lame excuse of going for a walk, Sam and Ruby finally had time to themselves. Ruby leaned back against the headboard of one of the beds and sighed. This was so not how she expected her day to go.

"I can't believe I'm a mother. Or will be, at any rate," Ruby muttered. She thrust the heels of her palms into her eyes. Each day she spent on Earth, each day she spent with Sam, she felt more human. She felt connected to Jessica and John but she also hated what she'd done to them. They were half-demon. No matter what the future held, they would never be normal.

Sam slipped onto the bed and threw an arm around Ruby. "Penny for your thoughts?" He pulled Ruby's hands off her face and into her lap; he didn't let go.

"We have kids," Ruby said. Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I'd noticed," he said. Ruby frowned at his sarcasm. She was unsure if he shared her reservations. She feared what kind of parents they would make. With the war going full swing, Sam had no choice but to continue hunting and Ruby knew a life on the road wasn't the life Sam wanted for his kids. She also knew that raising them herself would never work. She wouldn't age and how would it look if a twenty-five-year-old claimed to be the mother of a sixteen-year-old? On top of everything, they were Winchesters and they were part demon. They would become the hunted strictly because of their paternity. Demons would use them against their father and human hunters would see them as nothing more than another evil being needing to be destroyed. "Do you think we can do this?" Ruby asked.

Sam kissed her temple. "No family's perfect. Our's is just a little more unconventional than others." He rested his forehead against her's. "We can't shield them from the big bad world but we can protect them and raise them to be good people. We'll just have to take life one day at a time like normal parents."

"But we're not normal," Ruby whispered. "I'm a demon, Sam, that alone is strike one. I just don't see how this can work."

Sam took her in his arms and held her close. He mumbled into her ear. "It will work. Our kids are living proof of that. Just look at them and you'll know."

Ruby had to admit that Sam had a point. Their kids were healthy and as happy as their childhood and situation could warrant. She couldn't ask for anything more. She looked up at Sam's mussed hair and ran a creamy hand through his bangs. "Guess we better get started."

**Author's Note: I will be updating over the holidays, so look for part seven next Saturday!**


	7. Rocking all the Way

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part seven of the series Skies on Fire. Sorry, I meant to post it yesterday but had a medical emergency delay me. But here it is!**

Two months later...

"Damn it!" Mary shoved her bloody finger in her mouth and ran her coarse tongue along the cut. Demons she could handle, chopping vegetables for soup kicked her ass. She could have easily ordered a pizza but it'd been so long since she'd had something other than fast food (she wasn't sure how her dad and uncle lived on that fake greasy crap) that she itched to actually get in a kitchen and make something edible.

She stepped to the sink and ran her finger under the tap. It didn't appear to need stitches, just antibacterial cream and a bandage. Luckily she hadn't made much of a mess of her bodily fluid so she was confident she could hide the injury from her dad. Dean had lately gone from overprotective father to paranoid freak. He'd started making excuses to ban her from hunts, which pissed Mary off to no end. She and her cousins were more than qualified for a damn salt and burn and her angelic powers had saved their asses on many occasions.

"There is nothing wrong with being a concerned parent," said a deep voice behind Mary. She spun around and frowned at Castiel. She hated telepathy. "Don't do that," Mary begged.

Castiel mumbled an apology. He crossed the motel room and reached for Mary's hand. She hid it behind her back. "Let me see," Castiel demanded. Mary shook her head. The last thing she needed was her lover making a big deal about her carelessness, which in turn would only fuel Dean's paranoia. She smiled and said, "It's fine, already clotted over." Castiel's expression was unmoved.

Mary sighed and grudgingly held out her hand for Castiel's inspection. He gingerly took the lean digits in his rough palms and held her index finger to his eyes. "Just a scratch," he concluded. He kissed the dark red scar. Mary automatically jerked her hand away. This was how it always started; one simple touch was enough to make her head spin. "I've got soup to finish," Mary said hastily.

Too late. Castiel was fully aware of the thought that crossed the young woman's mind. He smirked. "Soup can wait."

"So can you." Mary pivoted and resumed chopping a carrot into little pieces. She felt Castiel wrap his arms around her waist, his soft lips tickling her ear, his face buried in her thick brown hair. She leaned back into his embrace but continued her work. "You're beautiful like this," Castiel murmured. "You're free, no cares, no war, just you and me."

Dropping the bright orange cubes into the pot on the stove, Mary was reminded of her mother's elegance in the kitchen. They were rare occasions, those family dinners, but her mother went above and beyond to make them as perfect as possible. For a few hours there were no demons, no angels, no shotguns and rock salt. They were just a family.

Castiel positioned himself at the little table opposite the stove. The kitchen area of the cramped motel suite was pushed to the back of the room, partitioned by a low bar that was too narrow to pass for a table, so an actual table had been installed. It was here that Castiel sat, watching his lover playing house.

"Where is everyone?" Castiel asked.

Mary tossed a few final vegetables into the pot and turned the range to the lowest setting. "Dad and Uncle Sam are working a job, Aunt Ruby's interrogating the demon we caught last week, and John and Jessica went to Uncle Bobby's to rummage through his books," Mary explained. Castiel nodded. Mary expected him to be silent. He was the one who brought the kappa to their attention and suggested Dean and Sam take Mary along. Dean adamantly refused. Castiel knew better than to go up against the Winchester stubbornness and let the subject drop. Once he threw up the white flag, that was it, end of discussion, he would have nothing more to say. Mary liked that aspect of his personality, it made for a good listener.

Right now though, Mary didn't need an ear, she needed a shoulder. She'd spent the past several weeks adjusting to life with her family but had yet to run into her mom. "Now that I have you alone, I have to ask how Mom is."

"Fine," Castiel said simply. Mary hoped he would elaborate. She yearned to know more. After a minute's pause, she squirmed and asked, "Does she know I'm here?"

A single nod was her answer. That was enough to break the camel's back. Mary exploded. "What? She freaking knows that I'm here, in the same time she is, and she hasn't contacted me? I spent eight years, eight years, Cas, thinking she had disappeared with Dad, thinking she was dead, until you blurt out 'No, she's alive, she's just in the past because the mother you know has been jumping through time and actually hasn't given birth to you yet!' Do you know how twisted and confusing this all is? Why the hell hasn't she come to me and tried to explain? What the hell does any of this mean?"

Mary's face was flushed and her breathing labored. Her chest rose and fell quickly, as though she'd run several miles. Castiel lowered his gaze to stare at his shoes.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Mary shouted. She couldn't hold in her anger. She didn't mean to take it out on Castiel but there were some things that couldn't be discussed with her father or her uncle, and her cousins never had understood the whole manipulation of the timeline thing. Castiel was the only one besides her mother who would understand and since her mom wasn't in the picture, her lover was forced to take the brunt of her emotions.

Castiel spoke slowly, allowing time to pass for Mary to cool down. "Our lives are complicated. We do not adapt to time, we create the present around us. There is no future or past, there is only whenever we exist. Time has no meaning to us," he said. He looked up at Mary with sad eyes. "The woman who raised you did not fetter herself solely to your time. She spent much of your childhood, unbeknown to you, in many eras with many people you have never met and never heard of. But her experiences came at a price- you."

Mary slid into the chair across from Castiel, more confused than she was earlier. "How do you mean?"

"She loves you more than anything, Mary. She knew the life of God's warrior and never wished it for you. When it was decreed that the burden of leading us to victory would fall to you, she flew into a frenzy. She tried everything she could to change that future for you. She began to question Him and her wavering faith led her down a path few of us have ever trod." Castiel stopped here, letting his words sink in.

Mary just looked at him incredulously. "I'm the root of her doubt?" she asked.

He reached under the table and took her hands. "There's more. It won't be easy, but stay with me." He waited for Mary's acknowledgment before continuing. "She removed her grace and fell to Earth. She lived as a human for over twenty years before her grace was restored. That was why she left when your father disappeared. She didn't know what happened to him. She thought you were in good hands, that he was there for you, and so she traveled to what you call the past and she started anew."

Mary exhaled slowly. This was almost too much. She stared into Castiel's eyes and saw pity. She saw how it hurt him to hurt her but she also saw determination, a reflection, she presumed, of her own stoic stance. If she wanted to truly know the woman who was her mother then she needed to hear what Castiel was telling her. "You said she restored her grace?" Mary's voice broke with the question.

"With your father's help. She's one of us again but..." Castiel faltered. "But there will be repercussions for what she did. Eventually, anyway."

That caught Mary's attention. "Eventually?" She scrunched her forehead. "What does that mean?"

"Your destiny is greater than her punishment. She will not face judgment until after your birth."

Mary let out a long breath. That didn't leave her mother much time. She glanced at Castiel, studying his face while she worked out an appropriate way to phrase her next question. He didn't give her the chance. The coldness in his eyes was all she needed. Mary began to sob. Castiel moved to his beloved and pulled her close. Mary felt helpless. There was nothing she could do to help her mother, for when He made a decision, that decision was upheld.

"Shh, it'll be alright," Castiel whispered. He lifted a hand to Mary's face and wiped away her tears. His touch was like electrocution, sending a deep, warm shock through Mary's body. She grabbed the lapel of his coat and pulled him to her level, forcing her mouth on his.

* * *

Mud squelched beneath Dean's boots. The river to his right gurgled along a series of large boulders that stuck out from the gravel bottom. Dead fish washed up on the bank. All around were skeletal oak trees, barren and frozen in the winter chill.

Dean trudged to the Impala, which was parked along the shoulder of the highway parallel to the river. He kept going over the night's hunt. He and Sam had tracked the kappa, a Japanese water demon that Dean thought was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen, then his dumbass brother tricked the demon into emptying the bowl in its head by bowing to it. Once dry, it shrieked, convulsed, and froze in a terrible voiceless death scream. Dean cremated the body while Sam walked around the car, looking for a signal on his cell phone. He insisted on being available if John or Jessica found something in their research and needed to get hold of him.

The youngest Winchester brother was leaning against the passenger side door. He looked up as Dean approached but did not hang up the phone. "No, all Ruby got out of him was that the demon Mary killed two months ago was pretty high on the hierarchy, kick-ass powers and all. He was old, maybe ancient even, so you have your work cut out for you." Sam jerked his head towards Dean, who was throwing weapons in the trunk. "Okay, take care of yourselves. I love you," Sam ended the call.

Shutting the trunk, Dean glanced at his brother. "You okay, Sammy?"

Sam nodded, slipping his cell phone into his pocket. "Just worried about my kids." He grinned at his brother. Dean knew Sam relished fatherhood, nearly as much as Dean himself did.

The boys were about to jump in the car and head back to the motel when Sam's phone went off again. He frowned, fished it from his pocket, and flipped it open. "Ruby, what's up?"

Dean adopted his brother's worried expression. They had agreed to rendezvous with Ruby at the motel when they finished the hunt and she got information out of the demon she was interrogating. She would only call if something had gone wrong with her job. "I'm on my way," Sam was saying. He closed his phone for the second time and sighed. "She lost the human it was possessing and was forced to exorcise it. She needs help getting rid of the body."

"I'll drop you off." Dean moved for the driver's seat, keys jangling in his hands. Sam's hand was on the door handle when a feminine voice said, "Give Sam the keys."

Both brothers whipped around and gasped. "Anna?" Dean asked. The skinny young woman standing in the shadows behind the Impala nodded. "Hello, Dean," she smiled, "we need to talk."

Dean tossed Sam the keys. "One scratch and you're dead," he warned his little brother. Sam smirked, rounded the car, and zoomed off. Dean turned to Anna, grinning. "Thought I'd never see you again," he said.

Anna did not smile back. She simply looked at Dean with tired, sad eyes and stepped into the glow of a nearby streetlamp. Dean's eyes grew wide as he took in the small rounded bump protruding from Anna's stomach. "You're pregnant," Dean breathed.

* * *

"These books are so not helping!" Jessica moaned. Her head crashed into her hands, blond tresses falling forward to obscure her face. She let out another groan. "How are we supposed to research a demon that old?"

John shoved another dusty tome towards his sister. "We pray he's mythical. The stories might not be accurate, but they'll be something to go on." He flipped a few pages of the book his was reading. Words blurred and he swore it was written in Latin. He finally slammed the damn thing shut and glanced at Jessica. "I give."

Jessica, too, was beyond defeated. They'd been attacking Bobby's library for nearly five hours now and could find not even a trace of the demon they were looking for. Ancient and powerful just wasn't enough to go on.

"Here's the ones from upstairs." Bobby dropped a pile of heavy leatherbound books on the table, making Jessica jump. "How ya'll doing?"

Another groan escaped Jessica's lips. "That bad?" Bobby asked. He wiped his brow. "Keep looking, he's bound to be in there somewhere."

"What if he's not?" John piped up. Bobby stared at him incredulously. "I mean, we've been through almost everything you have and we've got nothing. Maybe this one was just so old he's been forgotten."

Bobby adjusted his trucker's hat and sighed. "If that's the case, we're really screwed. Cuz if he ain't the biggest bad in the food chain, then I don't wanna know bout the ones who are."

* * *

Sam pulled up to the abandoned farmhouse and cut the enginge. The place was grey, with busted windows and a sloping roof. Best place to hold a demon. It was out of the way of civilization and was an unlikely target for high school pranksters.

He pulled the heavy door and slipped into the musty space. It was large and dark, with a low loft and molding bales of hay. In the center of the barn was a metal folding chair atop an elaborate image drawn in chalk. Ruby stood over the body of a middle-aged man in flannel t-shirt and torn jeans. "Took you long enough," Ruby muttered.

"Bitch later, we've got a job to do." Sam knelt beside the body. The man's mouth was askew and his eyes were only half-closed. Apparently he had slumped to the floor and retained the fetal position. "Good going, Ruby, rigor mortis has set in."

Ruby shrugged. Sam ignored her and lifted the body off the floor. "Grave's this way," Ruby said as she exited the farmhouse. Sam followed on her heels.

The grave was shallow but adequate. Sam dumped the body and sent Ruby to the car to get the salt, kerosene, and matches. When she returned, Sam was hesitant about their next move. "This isn't right," he said. "His family will never have closure, he deserves a proper burial."

"He's wanted for murder, Sam. He may have been possessed but the cops won't care. It's better this way. No trial, none of that messy news coverage to bother the family, they'll remember him as he was."

Sam had to agree with that. He poured the kerosene and sprinkled the salt, just to be on the safe side and make sure the demon really was exorcised. Then he lit a match and orange flames leaped up from below.

They shoveled earth over the body, filling the hole, before heading back to the car to drop off their materials. Sam handed Ruby a bucket and a sponge. "There's a pump over there, fill the bucket and scrub the Devil's Trap off the floorboards."

Ruby rolled her eyes but did as told. Sam shoved the chair in the backseat of the Impala and went back into the farmhouse. Ruby was on all fours making sweeping motions with her arms to remove the chalk. All Sam saw was her ass.

"Unless you're gonna help me, stop staring," Ruby said. She tossed Sam a smile and dunked the sponge in the bucket.

Sam crossed to Ruby as fast as his long legs would carry him and pulled her to her feet. She grinned, threw the sponge to the floor, and wrapped her arms around his neck.


	8. Wheels

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: I put the entire series under one story. It's just easier that way! Each chapter will be the next part, so this is part eight.**

Dean couldn't stop staring at Anna. He fumbled blindly in his pocket for his cell phone. He had to call Mary. He had to know the truth. He had to know if Anna was the mother of his daughter. He finally pulled the phone from his pocket and ran his fingers along its sleek body, looking for the latch to flip it open.

"There's no need," Anna said. She smiled at Dean and pushed his phone back in his pocket. "I figured if she was here, she'd find you. That's one smart kid we've got."

"What? How?" Dean stammered. He couldn't clear his mind. First, Anna was back. The one person (if you could call an angel of the Lord a "person") in the whole world who understood what he'd been through (save for Mary and possibly Castiel, but that was different) had returned to him. Anna had actually seen everything _Dean _had been through. Second, Anna was pregnant, four months if she was sticking to the proper timeline. Dean couldn't be sure about that; neither Mary nor Castiel had fully explained the whole time-travel thing. Third, Mary was half-angel, but Anna was human when...

Anna ran a pale hand along Dean's jaw, pulling him out of his reverie. He continued to stare at her, bewildered. "You were human," he whispered. He knew he should say something more meaningful and relevant to their reunion, but Dean's brain was simply stuck on the technicalities.

"Mary is a warrior for God. I thought, since I was human when she was conceived, perhaps she would be spared the life she will lead." Anna hung her head in defeat. "She is why I questioned my Father. I refuse to believe that He would breed a young girl for war. He is love and light and what they ask of her is foul and taints her." Anna looked up at Dean, her eyes brimming with centuries of unshed tears. She had bottled her reservations for so long. Only in his presence did she feel she could let go.

Finally, Dean's brain kicked back into gear. He enveloped Anna who buried her face in his chest and sobbed.

* * *

Tossing another book aside, Jessica growled. She hated research. She hated dust and worn leather and anything that reminded her of a library. But, as John constantly reminded her growing up, she was her father's daughter and had inherited his knack for research.

"Take a break, Jess. Bobby's calling some of his contacts; they might have something he doesn't." John stood up and stretched. "I'm gonna make a sandwich. You want anything?"

Jessica nodded. "To live where there isn't an age limit on drinking."

John laughed and patted his sister's arm. "I'll get you a soda."

The eldest sibling watched her brother stroll into the kitchen and start rifling through cupboards. Jessica swiveled in her chair and slumped in front of the fireplace. She really, truly, hated research. Books only taught so much. It was the practical application that you either passed or failed, lived or died. That was so much more thrilling.

Something hard fell in the kitchen. Jessica rolled her eyes, expecting John to yell a smartass retort about his clumsiness. Instead, Jess felt something moving behind her._ Damn it, John, don't try sneaking up on me!_

She turned and vaulted out of the chair. The beefy man standing in the doorway oozed pure evil and raw power. Jessica felt her stomach drop. This demon was more powerful than any she had gone up against, more powerful than the demon they had been looking for.

The demon stared at her, a smirk tugging at his tiny mouth. He lunged forward, outstretched hands on a course for Jessica's throat.

* * *

Mary wearily blinked sleep from her eyes. The thin sheet covering the lower half of her body lacked the warmth she craved. She slid her hands past the edge of the sheet, searching for the comforter. She whimpered when she spotted it on the floor. She couldn't remember how the comforter had been thrown from the bed, or why she was buck naked under the sheet. Then she recognized the heavy breathing of slumber and rolled over, finding herself face to face with Castiel.

Last night came flooding back, images of sweat and skin. Mary grinned and snuggled closer to her lover. Even in sleep, Castiel welcomed the young woman into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his chest.

Mary sighed contentedly.

"Are you alright?" a groggy Castiel asked.

Mary looked up from his abs, finely chiseled she noted, and into his inquisitive eyes. "Perfect," she answered, giving him a chaste kiss.

Suddenly, her cell phone vibrated on the dresser. Mary groaned. "Way to ruin the moment people," she muttered as she flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Mary?" Jessica's voice was shaky, as though she'd been crying. "Mary, you have to come to Bobby's. Something... something horrible's happened."

Mary bolted upright, fear clenching her heart. Castiel sat up too, frowning as he wrapped his arms around the girl's waist. "Jess, what's wrong?"

"Oh, God," Jessica cried into the phone. She sniffed. "Mary, it's all my fault. If I'd been quicker, or hadn't let him out of my sight..." Jessica couldn't continue, she was crying so hard.

"Jess, Jess! Look, whatever's happened I'm sure you're not to blame," Mary soothed.

Jessica continued to bawl incoherently. Mary held the phone a little further from her hear to avoid damage while Jessica's crying rose a crecendo or two.

The motel room door jiggled open; Castiel gripped the sheet tighter around his naked waist as Mary pulled it up over her chest. Sam and Ruby entered, slightly disheveled. They saw Mary and Castiel in bed and knowing glances passed between the two couples.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Jessica cried. "Please, you need to come! I can't do this alone!"

"Jess, what is going on? I can't understand half of what you're saying!" Mary complained.

Sam, who had been crossing to the bathroom, froze when he realized who was on the other end of the line. He looked at his niece then at Ruby, who was equally confused and concerned. Jessica seemed to be having some sort of breakdown. What had happened to have rattled their daughter so?

"You need to come to Bobby's. Me and John, we were looking for info on the demon and we were attacked and..." Jessica faltered again, clearly unable to speak further.

Mary tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Look, just sit tight. We're on our way." She flipped the phone closed and sighed. "John and Jessica were attacked. She didn't say what happened, but I think it's pretty bad."

Sam nodded and took Ruby's hand. "We'll wait for you at the car. I'll call Dean, then when you two are ready we'll grab him and go."

* * *

Dean pushed Anna a few inches away from his chest, angling his head so he could see her better. "It'll be okay, Mary will be okay," he assured.

He hoped she would be. Dean wasn't exactly versed in angel lore and he sure as hell didn't know much about teenage girls on top of it. But he knew Mary had her head on straight and he had to have faith in her.

"She's a good kid," Anna said, smiling at Dean. "You'll raise her right."

"You mean we'll raise her right," Dean said. He studied Anna, who sighed and clutched him harder. "Anna? We're in this together."

Anna shook her head. "I turned my back on Him, Dean. I can't get away with that. Once the baby's born, she'll be in your custody, she'll be your responsibility. I won't be allowed to be her mother."

"You'll always be her mother," Dean whispered as he leaned in and kissed Anna.

An engine shrieked behind them, shuddered and stopped. Dean turned to find Sam hurtling out of the Impala. "Dean! We need to get to Bobby's! Something's happened to John and Jessica!"

Dean paled. The look on Sam's face was heartbreaking. Neither of them wanted this life for their kids. Dean began to wonder if Mary would be better off without either of her parents.

* * *

They- Sam, Ruby, Dean, and Mary- made it to Bobby's in under three hours. Castiel stayed behind with Anna; they had orders not to get involved. Mary wondered about that, but shook the thought. He worked in mysterious ways, but she trusted Him. She always had, even in her darkest hours. He'd given her back Castiel, given her a second chance with her dad. She loved Him with all her heart.

As the Impala pulled into the drive, every occupant gasped. Half the roof was blown off, and several of the front steps had caved in. Most of the windows were cracked or shattered. The yellow headlights swept over three persons, two squatting over a third. Dean killed the engine and they jumped out of the car, racing to Jessica and Bobby.

"Jess!" Mary cried. Jessica looked up at the sound of her name but did not move from her vigil over her brother's body. Her brother's still body, Mary noted. She paused beside Jessica. "What happened?" Mary whispered.

Dean, Sam, and Ruby caught up. Bobby stood, walked over to Sam, and clapped him on the shoulders. "I'm sorry, son."

Sam stared at the body on the grass. John was a bloody mess, one arm cocked at an unnatural angle. His half-closed eyelids were caked with dirt. Ruby stifled a sob, burrowing her face into Sam.

"He's gone," Jessica sobbed, rocking back and forth on her haunches. "He's gone and it's all my fault. I tried to protect him but the demon, he was different than the others. He was so powerful and I couldn't stop him."

Mary dropped to her knees and hugged her cousin. "It's not your fault. The demon did this, not you."

"But I'm his big sister, I'm supposed to protect him!" Jessica screeched. She fell forward onto John's body and sobbed.

"No, protecting you both is my job," Mary said determinedly. "And I'm not about to fail now." She jumped to her feet and hollered heavenward, "Get down here! That's an order!"

A figure appeared in the darkness. Uriel strode forward, keeping far enough away from Sam, Ruby, and the kids to subtly convey his dislike. He kept an even glance on Mary.

"Bring him back," Mary ordered.

Uriel shook his head. "Those are not my orders."

"I'm giving you new orders. Bring him back!" Mary repeated stubbornly. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

Uriel stood motionless, staring back. "I don't follow your orders."

Now Mary was pissed. Jessica gasped as the ground shook and the atmosphere grew steadily darker. "I am the most powerful being on this Earth," Mary began in a low voice. "The only gift I do not possess is the gift of life. But you have direct contact with Him and His abilities. So I will ask you one last time. Bring. Him. Back."

Dean, Sam, and Ruby could only watch. Dean's chest rose and fell heavily with trepidation. He'd never seen this side of Mary and after his conversation with Anna that afternoon, he was beginning to understand. It all made sense now. Mary was nothing more than a soldier, a powerful warrior. She was the one who would lead them. He'd only been dragged out of the Pit so she would exist.

They waited for Uriel's answer. Finally he said, "No."

A simultaneous gasp ran round the group. Even Bobby, who didn't know any angels beyond Mary, Castiel, and Anna, was shocked by Uriel's refusal.

"Why not?" Mary asked, trying very hard to contain her fury; the house was shaking violently now.

"Because of what he is."

"'What he is' is irrelevant. John and Jessica are on our side, as are Uncle Sam and Aunt Ruby. They have proved their loyalty time and time again, yet you who are too set in your prejudices refuse to acknowledge what they have achieved for us." Mary sighed, and the quaking began to subside. "If you don't bring him back, I may have to rethink my alliegance."

Uriel's eyes widen slightly, the first sign of emotion he'd displayed since his arrival. "You wouldn't."

Mary smirked. "I know what I'm worth, to both sides. You wouldn't want them to get their hands on me, now would you?"

Uriel didn't say anything. Mary sighed and began walking towards the road. "Fine. Be a stubborn bitch. I'm done with this, all of this."

Jessica was the first to find her voice after Mary's defiance. "Mary, wait, are you just going to leave us?" She couldn't believe her cousin would just throw in the towel so easily.

"He won't bring John back. But I have other options."

Uriel bristled. "It's forbidden!"

"For you, I'm half human, remember? I have more free will than you ever thought possible. My soul is mine to do with as I see fit." Mary turned on Uriel. "So, bring him back, or I start heading for the nearest crossroads."


	9. Rock 'N Roll Dream

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part nine of the series Skies on Fire. Squee! So close to the finish line!**

**Warning: This chapter has very religious overtones.**

* * *

They had lost so many. Foot-soldiers, generals, every rank in between. There was talk of mutiny. They were getting desperate. Some believed the war nothing more than a suicide mission, handing their own annihilation to God on a platter. A select few refused to be moved. They clung to what they believed was their destiny. They were determined to win, at all costs.

But there was talk, talk that transcended Earth and Hell. The war was being fought over humanity, angels versus demons. What of the third party? Both sides believed humans were ignorant of the war over their souls, over their future, over their very existence. What if both sides were wrong?

Some had seen the truth. They had spent enough time assimilating to know not to underestimate the humans. They agreed that the humans did remain ignorant of the war, but they knew better than to believe that whichever side won the war would craft the future of the human race. Humans held the future in their hands, they followed their own path, a path different from the one the demons charted, a path different from the one the angels charted.

Regardless of the outcome, humans would not be enslaved. If they could not have the humans, then why fight the war? Morale was slipping and such thoughts only quickened the fall. The hierarchy splintered. Demons began to war amongst themselves.

She fumed. She had to rally the demons, realign the army. She had worked too hard to give up now. She had worked too hard to let her own kind destroy their chance. She had worked too hard to fail him.

* * *

"Have you lost your mind?" Dean roared. He stared at Mary, livid that she would even consider taking such action. Mary simply looked at him, one eyebrow raised in defiance. Dean fought very hard not to smack her across the face. He knew what she was thinking: hypocrite. And while part of him knew she had a point, the larger part of him, the 'father' part of him, was furious. Had she not learned from his past?

"I know perfectly well what I'm doing," Mary said coolly. She shifted her gaze from her father and back to Uriel. The angel's face was impassive, with just the hint of a twitch in his right eye.

Jessica rushed to her cousin's side. Gripping Mary's arm, Jessica whispered, "Are you nuts? I know Uriel's being hardheaded, but if you just give him a chance..."

"I gave him a chance," Mary interrupted, "and he blew me off. If our own allies won't help then I'll find someone on the other side who will."

The tension in the air was thick. Dean had to consciously work his lungs just to breathe the stuffy air. He glanced at his brother and Ruby, who stood off to the side. Sam watched the interchange with hollowed eyes; Ruby had yet to take her eyes off their son's body.

"They had you once and you did not break. If you sacrifice your life for his, you will endure the torture again and you will not talk," Uriel said.

Mary laughed. "You really are as stupid as your vessel looks. The only reason I lasted as long as I did was because I tapped into my angel half. I was too pure to get off the rack, I was fed strength from Him so I could handle anything they threw at me." She glanced at John's body and set her jaw. "Not this time. If I am forced to make a deal, I will give them all the information they want."

"Stupid girl!" Uriel screamed. The ground began to quake again. "You know too much! If you reveal our plans, we will lose! Is that what you want? Is that what you want for your family?"

"You said yourself my cousins are nothing but demons. They'll survive Hell on Earth," Mary smirked. She locked eyes with Uriel. "Question is, are _you_ willing to pay the price?"

* * *

Matthew Ryerson sighed, tossing aside his textbook and collapsing on a futon. His roommate Tyler raised an eyebrow. "You okay?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, just tired. Did our professors have to give us this much work over spring break?"

Tyler laughed. "I know what you mean. But hey, it's what we get for being seniors. Between theses and research projects and internships... you're right, it sucks."

The other boy chuckled and bent under the futon to fish out another book, a Bible this time. He flipped it open haphazardly, scanning the first few verses. When he applied to college, Matthew had not intended to be a religion major. His senior year of high school he had no idea what he would do with his future; he'd only agreed to attend college because he had no other options. A cancer survivor, Matthew was not physically fit enough to enlist in the military and follow in the footsteps of his father and older brothers. He could have pursued a vocation but again, his health was an issue; he was too weak for manual labor.

It was the campus pastor who finally convinced Matthew to see the light. Sophomore year, Matthew volunteered at the local childrens' hospital. The kids reminded him so much of his own battle, that Matthew wanted very much to give back to those who had helped him. Pastor Elijah suggested the ministry, bringing God's word to all mankind. Not an overtly religious man, Matthew skirted the idea for a while. Finally, he prayed for guidance. Two years later, and Matthew was preparing for seminary.

"Hey, you need to read this," Tyler said, tossing Matthew his cell phone.

Matthew caught it with both hands and read the text message. "Who sent this?"

"My sister, Isabel." Tyler stared at Matthew, waiting for a reaction. "Do you think it's true?"

"Why are you asking me?" Matthew flipped the phone shut and tossed it back to Tyler.

Tyler shrugged. "You're the religion major. This is right up your alley."

Matthew snorted. "Yes, because just last semester I took Demons: 101. Come on, Tyler, even you can't be that nieve."

"Look, Isabel thinks there's something to it. She's not the kind of person to blow things out of proportion, you know," Tyler said, pulling up a new document on his computer. "Besides, you're the one who says God has a plan. You never let me forget that!"

Matthew had to concede that Tyler had a point. He did believe God had a plan, for him, for Tyler, for everyone. God's plan for him was ministry, he knew that now. But what Isabel was implying, that was just madness! Wasn't it?

"Ty, give me your phone. I want to talk to Isabel."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you want with my sister?"

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Tyler, please. I'm not going to fool around with your sister. I just want to talk to her about that text she sent. Maybe she is on to something."

"That was a quick change of heart," Tyler said. He sighed and threw his roommate his phone.

"It's just that Pastor Elijah has all these books, like history books that focus on religion. I read one a few months back. I thought it was a bogus but maybe it's not."

Tyler stared at Matthew. "Um, you're gonna have to be more specific than that, man."

"This book," Matthew began as he speed dialed Isabel, "documented various events, events that had been prophesied in the Bible and other religious texts." The phone began to ring, waiting for the receiver to pick up. "All of these events seemed unrelated but the author argued that it's all part of something bigger. For years, centuries now, maybe even millenia, we've been fought over. Humans, I mean, we've been fought over by angels and demons."

"Okay..." Tyler srunched up his face in confusion. "I don't get it. If angels and demons, if they existed," Matthew snorted at this; Tyler always was a skeptic, "were fighting some sort of war over us, wouldn't we know or at least have some part in it? I mean, it does concern us."

Matthew shook his head. "The author said the angels don't want us to know because they don't want to be used by us, and the demons don't want to be hunted any more than they already are." The phone rang again. "But that's not my point. The author claimed that this war was irrelevant. Whoever wins doesn't matter because ultimately, God will win."

"Just like in Isabel's message," Tyler exclaimed. "'The battle for humanity has already been lost and won.' Wait, if none of it matters, why are they still fighting? And why would the angels keep fighting if God wins?"

Matthew shrugged. "That's why I'm calling Isabel." Finally, she picked up. "Isabel, hey, it's Matthew. Can we talk?"

* * *

Uriel bristled. "Do not pin this on me, girl!" He stalked up to Mary until mere inches separated them. His dark eyes bored into the young woman but she stood ramrod straight, never flinching, never blinking. "I cannot allow you to threaten treason. You will be answerable for your actions!"

"Never said I wasn't. Put me before God and let Him judge me. If love for my family is treason, let Him decide. If finding no thrill in war, if getting no fix from destroying living creatures, evil or no, is treason, let Him decide. I doubt He would be persuaded by your argument," Mary said.

Thunder rolled across the night sky. Mary glanced up and smiled sadly. "Looks like He's listening to one of us. Wonder which one?"

Uriel, too, glanced towards the heavens. He growled low in his throat and disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" Dean asked. He took Mary's arm; she twisted out of his grasp. "Mary, don't," Dean ordered in a soft voice.

"I don't have a choice," Mary whispered. "Uriel left and John is still dead. I have to do something."

Mary turned and began to walk towards the road when Jessica yelled, "Mary!"

The brunette spun, surprised at the urgency in her cousin's voice. Jessica stood beside her parents but she was pointing at her brother, who stirred. Mary's eyes went wide. If John was stirring, then he was alive.

John groaned as he opened his eyes. In seconds, Mary and Jessica were at his side. "John, John!" Jessica cried. She took his hand in her's and squeezed.

"That hurts, Jess," John croaked.

"Sorry," Jessica grimaced as she released his hand.

Bobby, Sam, Dean, and Ruby were now circled round the kids. Sam squatted beside Mary. "John, how do you feel?"

"Like death," the boy chuckled. When no one responded to his joke he sighed. "Come on, it was funny!"

"He's just like you," Ruby muttered to Dean.

John finally found the strength to sit up. Mary grabbed his shoulder to brace him. "Take it easy, you just got resurrected," she said. Thinking about what she just said, Mary laughed. "Cause that never happens in this family!"

"Do you have to be so loud? Getting a headache here," John groaned. He quickly took stock of the scene. "Demon gone?"

Jessica nodded. "He fled when Bobby went at him with an iron fireplace poker."

John's head jerked towards his sister. "You okay?" When Jessica nodded, John breathed a sigh of relief.

"Um, John," Sam began, "what happened? Did Uriel give in?"

John threw his father a questioning look. "Uriel?"

"Yeah, Mary ordered him to bring you back, then he threw a hissy fit and she threatened to make a deal..." Dean attempted to summarize the evenings events but was interrupted when John turned on his cousin.

"You what?" John shrugged his arm away from Mary. "You considered making a deal?"

"I was running low on options," Mary shrugged. "And don't give me that look, I didn't go through with it. I needed leverage to get Uriel to do as I said. Stubborn bitch."

"Jerk," John automatically replied. "Wait, you weren't meaning me, were you?"

Mary laughed and shook her head.

Sam frowned. "Actually, that raises a good question. If Uriel didn't bring John back, and Mary didn't make a deal, then how are you alive?"

"Long story," John said. Jessica opened her mouth to speak but John held up a hand. "And before you ask, yes, I remember being dead. By the way," John pointed at Sam and Dean. "the grandparents say hi."

Sam and Dean grinned. Ruby looked perplexed. "You're half-demon. How did you end up, well, up there?" She pointed to the sky.

John and Jessica both glared at their demon mother. "We're also half-human," John said through gritted teeth. "We can't help our biology but we can control our powers and make good decisions. Apparently, we're good enough to avoid the Pit."

Ruby mumbled an apology. Mary smirked and turned back to her cousins. "So, what exactly do you remember? Do you remember getting resurrected?"

John nodded. "It was an act of God, literally. I know our side has had some... issues with me and Jessica and our parentage but God overlooked that and focused on us as people. And apparently he likes who we are."

"Good to know," Jessica said, thumping her little brother on the back.

"So God brought you back?" Bobby asked. He whistled. "That is something I ain't ever heard before. You sure are a one-of-a-kind family."

John bit his lip. "God didn't just bring me back. He gave me a message, to pass on to you guys."

Mary started. "Okay, I can believe that you and the grandparents had a chat. I can believe that God resurrected you. But even I have trouble believing that you spoke to God. Only four angels have even seen Him!"

"About that..." John began, scratching his head. "That's part of what I have to tell you. And I don't think you'll like it, any of you."

"Well, spit it out boy!" Bobby urged.

John glanced around at his gathered family. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times before anything resembling English came out. He sighed. "Everything you know about this war is a lie."


	10. Big Jack

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part ten of the series Skies on Fire. Only two chapters left!**

**Warning: Contains religious themes.**

* * *

Mary stared at her cousin, wondering if the resurrection had altered his mind in a highly negative way. "What do you mean 'everything we know about the war is a lie'? Demons want to create Hell on Earth and we want to stop them."

John shook his head. "No, it's more complicated than that." He sighed and staggered to his feet. "Look, can we go inside and talk about this? I'd like to rest a little before that bastard shows up again to try and kill me, again."

They carefully picked their way back to the house, Mary and Jessica supporting John up the crumbled steps. The interior did not fare much better than the exterior. Kitchen cabinets hung loosely from the hinges, books and papers littered the floor of the study, and several pieces of furniture, including the desk, couch, and coffee table, were in shambles. John was led to an armchair; everyone else just shifted debris and sat wherever and on whatever they could find.

"Start talking," Mary ordered.

John raised an eyebrow; Jessica scolded, "Mary! Give him a minute!"

Mary rolled her eyes. The entire situation was ridiculous. She just couldn't see what was so complicated about the war, what they didn't understand. She looked at her father. Dean was working his lip. His eyes met Mary's and he gave a small shrug.

"Drink this," Ruby ordered, thrusting a glass of water into her son's shaking hands.

John sipped at the clear liquid, smiling up at his mother. "Thanks." He chugged the remainder of the glass. Setting it down on the floor, he took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "You're not going to like what I have to say. Hell, I doubt you'll believe me. I wouldn't have believed it either if He hadn't told me." He looked at Mary and Dean. "How much do you honestly know about angels?"

"They're God's warriors and messengers; I'm God's warrior," Mary said. She was very puzzled. Where was John going with this?

"They help people, right?" Dean asked. "They're supposed to be merciful, except for maybe Uriel."

Sam snickered. "Merciful my ass. Are you forgetting how they treat me and Ruby?"

"She's a demon," Dean said automatically. He glanced at Ruby. "No offense."

Ruby shrugged. "Can't change what I am."

"You used to be human," John pointed out. "That's the difference between angels and demons, unless they fell from grace like Anna. Only the original demons didn't start out as humans."

"They began as angels," Jessica gasped. She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my God."

Mary's gaze darted from one cousin to the other. "What? What did she just figure out?"

John shifted uncomfortable in his seat before catching Mary's eye. "If the original demons were once angels, and all the other demons were once human, and humans were made in His image, can you explain angelic evolution?"

Dean shook his head in exasperation. "Okay, college-boy over here," he pointed to Sam, "might understand that sentence but I have no idea what the hell you just said."

"He said," Mary began slowly, "we all become demons in the end."

* * *

Matthew parked outside the apartment building, waiting for the engine to finish whining and shut off. Isabel had agreed to meet him for him lunch at her place (of which he had conveniently failed to inform Tyler; his roommate was under the impression Matthew and Isabel were meeting at a more public location AKA the campus library). She sounded very excited about discussing the prophetic occurrences and the supernatural war.

The elevator being out of order, Matthew climbed the seven flights to Isabel's one bedroom apartment. Reaching the topmost landing, Matthew gasped for breath, holding onto the wall for dear life. His body was not use to such strenuous activity. Several minutes passed before Matthew's breathing was back to normal. He took one more deep breath and crossed the hallway to Isabel's door.

He knocked; Isabel opened, greeting him with a smile. "Matthew, hi! Come in!"

"Thanks." Matthew crossed the threshold and was suddenly unsure of himself. While he'd spoken to Isabel many times over the phone, he'd never actually met her. She had recently transferred to the same college as her brother. Up until then, she'd been on the other side of the country. Now, alone with his roommate's little sister, Matthew felt his mouth go dry and his palms begin to sweat.

Isabel closed the door and led Matthew into the living area of her apartment. "I'm glad you agreed to meet with me," Isabel said. "Some things are better done in person."

"Your theories really struck a chord. It makes sense, with all the weird things I've read about, that there's some supernatural war going on, one that humans are ignorant about." Matthew sat on the couch Isabel offered; Isabel made no move to sit, but rather stood across from her guest.

"It's not just that humans don't know about the war," Isabel began, "but that they think themselves immune to its consequences."

"You mentioned as much in your text to Tyler. I don't know how I feel about that. I mean, I don't even know if I really believe that there is a war, or even such things as angels and demons. I'm open to the idea, I don't think there's any way I couldn't be, but I'm not one hundred percent on the idea."

Isabel nodded. "I understand. Sometimes people need physical evidence." She crossed to a dresser and began rummaging in the drawers. "But hypothetically, if you were a believer, what do you think about the outcome of the war? If demons win or if the angels win, will humans be affected?"

Matthew sighed, leaning back into the couch and scratching his chin. "I don't know enough about the war to make a solid statement, but I would imagine, yes. However, I'm not a religion major for nothing. I don't think God would allow the demons to win. He would protect humanity."

"Why do you think that?" Isabel asked quietly. Her hands roved over something in the topmost drawer.

"He's supposed to be all-powerful, right? And He created us in His image, so we must mean something to Him, enough for Him to intervene if something truly horrible happened to humanity."

Isabel's hands wrapped around the object she was fondling. "Such lofty hopes," she whispered.

"What was that?" Matthew asked. Isabel was speaking quietly and Matthew wasn't sure what she was saying.

Suddenly, Isabel turned and Matthew found himself flying into the wall behind the couch. Matthew gasped as his head smacked the plaster. Wincing, he struggled to get down but found he was pinned by an invisible force. He could only stare at Isabel, who was slowly making her way across the room, a silver knife glinting in her hand. That's when Matthew noticed her eyes. They were wrong, very wrong. The irises and whites had been replaced by an unidentifiable pearly haze.

"Isabel," Matthew pleaded. He was confused and scared. What the hell was going on?

Isabel grinned. "Sorry sweetheart, Isabel's unavailable." She stood before Matthew, tracing the blade across his chin. "My name's Lilith." Then she gutted him.

* * *

Dean worked his mouth, an action that was becoming something of a habit for him. His stomach felt like lead when he realized how much sense his nephew was making. This was wrong, oh so wrong, to believe that humanity's future, the future of the world, could be encompassed in a darkness they themselves possessed.

"No," Ruby croaked, her voice cracking with a dry sob. Sam reached over to rub his beloved's thigh but Ruby jerked away. "No! I've worked too hard fighting what I've becoming, hunting crossroads demons and trying to make sure others don't make my mistake! And now my son, my _son_, tells me it's for nothing?"

"I never said that," John said quickly. He stared hard at his mother. "You yourself are living proof that demons aren't all stereotypical. That's what screws everything up! That's why the truth has been hidden!"

Mary tightened her fingers in exasperation. "Just... spill it already! What the hell on you on about?"

"Mom's a demon, but she's fought it, right? She's retained much of her humanity, and the longer she's been with Dad the more humanity has rubbed off on her, making her even more identifiable with the human being she once was," John explained. "If humans were to evolve into demons some would fight it and retain some semblance of their humanity. Why? Because God created humans in His image. He gave us so much more than life; He gave us some of Himself. That's power! That's the strength Mom and even some of the other younger demons use to maintain a grasp on humanity."

Now Dean was beginning to get a headache. He stood quickly and, after rummaging around in Bobby's liquor cabinet for a minute, poured himself a shot of whiskey. One down, several more shots to go before he resumed his seat. Throughout Dean's drinking, John continued talking but Dean wasn't listening quite as closely as he had been. Instead, Dean's mind drifted, attempting to sort out the many secrets that had been revealed that night.

Anna was Mary's mother. Anna was also pregnant with the unborn version of their future daughter. And once Mary was actually born, he would never see Anna again. He would be a single-parent. How the hell was he supposed to raise an infant child? Well, he'd pretty much raised Sam, but that was different. He'd been a kid then, too, he'd been stuck at the fleabag motels watching over his baby brother. But with Mary, he was a hunter. He couldn't be a hunter and a father, not when there was no one left to take care of her. And, as much as he loved his father, Dean could never do what John had. He didn't resent John for leaving the boys behind while he was on a hunting trip, but it still hurt not having a parental figure around. Dean could never do that to Mary.

His thoughts shifted from Mary to the war. He took a quick survey around the room. Bobby, Sam, Ruby, Mary, John, Jessica. The people he loved, the people he'd die for, hell, the people he had died for. They were his family, his everything.

Dean downed another shot. He'd lost count how many he'd had. It didn't matter. The alcohol just kept flowing. And flowing. He couldn't get the war out of his head. He kept seeing Castiel, dead. He kept seeing his daughter and her awesome powers, obliterating demons. It was almost enough to break him.

Someone placed a hand on his shoulder; he looked up into Mary's green eyes.

"Dad?" The young woman asked hesitantly. "Everything alright? You look pale."

"Fine," Dean said. He capped the bottle of whiskey.

Mary sighed. "Some things never change."

"What?"

"Uncle Sam always said Jack was one of your best friends. But after you came back from the Pit, he said it got worse then. And I know it never got better, not in my timeline." Mary stared into her father's clouded gaze. "Daddy, I love you, I don't want you to hurt anymore. I know you think this is the only option, but it's not. We're here for you. And I want you to always be there for me."

Mary's voice broke and her whole body began to shake. Dean could have kicked himself. Pulling his daughter into a tight embrace, Dean mentally reprimanded himself for his self-destructive habits. He was hurting the people he loved, the ones he swore to protect. He had to put aside his self-loathing, if only to be the strength his daughter required.

"It'll be okay," Dean soothed. "I'm not going anywhere."

Mary's voice hitched. "Mom is. Castiel told me she'll be punished for her actions. She won't be a part of my life. Not that it matters now."

"Don't talk like that," Dean ordered. He held Mary at arm's length, green eyes boring into their identically matched pair. "We're not going to end up demons."

"You weren't listening to the rest of John's spiel, were you?" Mary smiled bitterly.

Dean had to admit he had stopped listening. Fresh tears welled in Mary's eyes. "It's the angels. They're not so different from the demons to begin with, but the war has altered them in ways they thought weren't even possible. Most of the warriors have gone rouge, not in the sense that they're AWOL but that kill vessels more often than not when exorcising demons. Previously, the angels went to any and all lengths imaginable to save the vessels. Now... now it's all about winning."

"I thought that was the other side's motto," Dean laughed.

"That's the point. Our side is no different from their's. This war now has three sides: the angels, the demons, and our family."

John, who had been listening to the exchange between father and daughter (he had no other amusements at present- Ruby and Jessica were salvaging sandwiches in the kitchen, while Sam and Bobby prepared for a likely demon attack), now spoke up. "Not just our family. There are other demons out there, ones like Mom who still have some connection to their humanity. We can recruit them."


	11. Smash 'N Grab

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part eleven of the series Skies on Fire. One more chapter left!**

* * *

Mary retreated further into the shadows, slowing her breathing to an almost inaudible sound. She fingered the knife in her waistband then the gun in her jacket pocket. Quickly crossing herself, Mary peered out from behind the brush, watching and waiting.

A tall man appeared from around a nearby corner and moved lazily down the sidewalk. He kept his thumbs in his belt loops as he hummed a tune Mary did not recognize.

Stepping out from behind the brush, which obstructed a tiny staircase leading into a bail bonds office, Mary adjusted her black mini-skirt and sidled up to the man.

"Like what you see?" Mary drawled. She ran a fake red fingernail along the man's left shoulder.

The man snorted. "The young ones may be fresher but they're never as good."

"Looks can be deceiving," Mary said as she rubbed her other hand along the man's thigh, tilting her upper body forward so the man had a better view of her cleavage.

She could tell the man was interested by the way his eyes widen and did a double-take of her breasts. Mary hooked an elbow around the man's arm and walked a few paces down the street.

"For instance," Mary continued in her drawl, "I can tell that you look like a fine, upstanding gentleman. You also look like a man who knows what he wants and isn't afraid to come and get it."

When the man adjusted his pace to walk alongside Mary rather than be forcibly dragged by her, Mary knew she had him hook and line. All she needed now was the sinker.

"And what do you think I want?" the man asked.

"You want Lilith and the rest of the old regime dead as much as I do, giving your generation an opportunity for control."

Bingo. The man stopped in his tracks, eyes quickly changing to deep black. "You're not one of us," he spat. "What's in it for you?"

Mary laughed. "I can honestly tell you that I get nothing out of this except a chance to live my life the way I choose, and even that's a pipe dream. All I want is that bitch dead and this war ended." Leaning in, Mary whispered, "You know as well as I do that your side is a dictatorship. Don't you want some power for yourself?"

"And you're willing to help me?" the man asked. "A human fighting for the other side, a traitor to your own kind? Even my side looks unfavorably on betrayal."

"I am the betrayed, not the betrayer," Mary said shortly. "And I am no lowly human."

With a even glare, Mary pulled herself to her full height and released a quick burst of energy, revealing her wings. The man took a step backwards and swore.

"Told you," Mary smirked. "Now, I want you to understand what I am offering. I want you, and others who are like-minded, to join me and my family. See, we want nothing to do with the angels anymore, not after everything they've done to us, but we still want nothing to do with Lilith and her cronies. Lucifer rising is not our goal. And I know it's not your's either. You're still young, for a demon. You remember what it's like to be human and you know what the demons would do to mankind if they win. Do you really want that?"

"What do I care about humans?" the man sneered.

"Wouldn't you rather have the freedom to possess and mentally torment and whatever the hell else you demons do? If Lucifer rises, all that will go away and every human in existence will end up like you."

The man's smirk was quickly wiped off his face. "I don't want them to end up like this," he admitted. "I just want to mess with them, and I really don't care if they die. I just don't want them to become like me."

"I know," Mary said sympathetically, placing a calming hand on the man's arm. "Aunt Ruby says the same thing. And you're not the only ones. We've already recruited many just like you over the past three months. And there are others out there we want to talk to. Will you help us?"

* * *

Bobby's house had finally been patched up, the windows and stairs replaced and the electricity reconnected via generator. The salvage yard had been renovated at the same time, pushing most of the vehicles into the perimeter and creating an obstacle course and training ring. Weapons ranging from sawed-offs and iron shot to knives bathed in Mary's blood, which apparently could infect demons with a virus causing paralyzation, similar to dead man's blood in vampires. Dean had objected to Mary draining herself like that but she stubbornly insisted. John offered his demonic healing expertise for each donation, keeping Mary healthy and strong for the three weeks she needed to provide enough blood for all their soldiers.

Their soldiers. That was something Dean simply could not get used to. He stood in one of the upstairs bedrooms, staring out the window at the salvage yard where his brother and nephew were training lower-level demons and even a few fallen angels that Anna had recruited. It had not only become a three-side war overnight, it had become a personal vendetta for the Winchesters.

"I'm sorry," Anna said from her perch on the bed.

Dean spun around. "Sorry for what?"

"For this, you and your family being a part of this."

Dean smiled and crossed the room to join Anna on the bed, propping more pillows behind the heavily pregnant angel. "Our family," Dean whispered, kissing Anna's forehead.

"Two more months before she's officially here," Anna laughed. She rubbed her stomach where the baby kicked her. "Two months before I..."

"No," Dean shook his head. "I won't let that happen. Not now, not after everything we've been through. Besides, how do you know you really will be punished? The angels have done nothing but lie to us."

"This is different, Dean," Anna explained. "This has nothing to do with my brothers and sisters. It is in my Father's hands."

Dean placed his hand on top of Anna's, spreading his fingers over her abdomen. They were silent for a while, simply enjoying one another's company for as long as they could.

* * *

In the salvage yard, Sam and John were surrounded.

"Round-house to the upper chest!" Sam ordered, watching his son pivot on his left foot and kick out with his right. John easily took down the demon but was surprised when a second one grabbed him from behind.

"Hey!" John yelled. He allowed his instincts to kick in, easily flipping the demon over his shoulder and slamming the man to the ground.

The group applauded the teen's work. Sam held up a hand to silence them. "Good work, John," Sam said. "You need to be more attentive though. Mikey shouldn't have been able to sneak up on you like that. Okay, everyone partner up and grab a metal alloy knife, they're marked so you won't accidentally kick each other."

While the demons and angels skittered around following their orders, John turned on his father. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Sam was taken aback. He was just trying to do his job and ensure that they're army was prepared. "I'm your father and your superior."

"You're not acting much like a father. I'm not some good little soldier you can just bark at!" John roared.

"Am I interrupting something?" Mary asked. She stood outside the perimeter, a tall man hanging back behind her.

"No," Sam said quickly spying another recruit. This one looked solid; he would make an excellent leader for some of the others, Sam could just sense it. He beckoned the man forward and led him to the others.

John bit his lip, straining very hard to keep his emotions under control before something bad happened.

"Please don't blow something up," Mary asked. She gave her cousin a sad sigh. "John, I know it's hard. He's not the father you remember..."

"He's acting like our grandfather. You remember all the stories we heard growing up, about the infamous John Winchester. Dad swore, he swore, he would never be his father, and look at him!"

"Uncle Sam is just doing the best he can, so are your mom and my parents," Mary said. "Things have changed now, John. This isn't the war we started with, the one we were raised in, the one we lost. It's a whole new ballgame."

John ran a hand through his hair, swiping his bangs out of his face. He was the spitting image of his father. "It's been so long, Mary. When Jess and I followed you here... we weren't expecting to pick up where we left off with our folks, I mean, they're not even technically our parents yet, but... but they are our Mom and Dad. I just want our family back."

"I know," Mary said, hugging her cousin tightly. "I know."

* * *

"I should be out there," Ruby muttered bitterly while she watched her lover train their son.

"You're a good soldier, Mom, but I'd kind of like to exist," Jessica said.

Ruby smiled, placing a hand on her three-months-gone stomach. She wasn't even showing yet but she could feel something, like guppies swimming around. She wouldn't have even known she was pregnant if Jessica hadn't told her, though the morning sickness was a big clue.

"And I want my daughter to exist, too," Ruby smiled. "I just don't like the boys going out by themselves. Or you and Mary out there without backup."

"Don't worry about us. We can take care of ourselves."

"I'm your mother, worrying comes with the territory." Ruby laughed a little as the words came out of her mouth. "I've spent way too much time with humans if I'm saying things like that!"

Jessica hugged her mom and turned to stare beyond the back porch and into the salvage yard. "I just hope we continue to spend time with humans."

Ruby squeezed the now seventeen-year-old's hand, reassuring her daughter of a brighter future, one she herself was beginning to question.

* * *

John wriggled out of his cousin's embrace to rejoin his father in training their army. Mary leaned against a battered '95 Toyota RAV 4. She hadn't had time to change out of her skirt and low cut blouse and was beginning to regret it as the South Dakota wind picked up and gusted around her.

Warm arms wrapped themselves around the eighteen-year-old's shivering form; Mary melted into Castiel's embrace.

"I was wondering where you'd gotten off to," Mary murmured.

Castiel kissed Mary's cheek. "Checking out a few of Anna's contacts, the ones she couldn't get a hold of before she was stuck on bedrest."

"And?" Mary asked, wondering if they had a few more angels on their side. It would be nice, considering how many demons they had. While demons fighting demons did sound delicious, bridging the gap and working together, in a bi-partisan fashion, was much more enjoyable.

"They have orders to stop the rest of the seals from being broken. I can't remove them from so important a job," Castiel said.

Mary nodded and sank deeper into her lover's arms. "What will happen to us?" she whispered.

"How do you mean?"

"When this is over, if we lose, or one of the other sides wins, what will happen?"

Castiel sighed. "I'm not sure."

"Will you leave me?" Mary asked.

For a moment, a moment that felt like time itself had stopped, there was silence. Finally, Castiel spoke up. "Not by choice."

* * *

Tyler tossed his cell phone aside, pissed at his sister. "Damn it, Isabel, pick up!"

He'd been trying all day to get hold of her. He was concerned, she hadn't been acting like herself lately. Ever since Matthew's murder, which was just weird him being stabbed to death in that alley in broad daylight, Isabel had been... off. As far as Tyler knew, there had been no romantic link between his dead roommate and his baby sister but for some reason Isabel seemed to be taking Matthew's death rather hard. She'd occasionally answer her phone, which was odd for her, as she usually lived on the thing. She'd attended Matthew's funeral, she'd cried like any good mourner, but Tyler could see in her face that something was wrong.

A sudden knock at his dormroom door forced Tyler to his feet. He dragged his muscular body across the room and flung open the door to reveal his sister.

"It's about damn time. I've been trying to get a hold of you for weeks!" Tyler reprimanded.

"Can I come in?" Isabel asked.

Tyler nodded, moving aside so Isabel could enter. The young woman flopped down onto her brother's futon, legs outstreched on the threadbare rug beneath her.

"Where have you been? Mrs. McMann said you hadn't been to your apartment in several days."

Isabel cocked an eyebrow. "Mrs. McMann? The landlord? The woman old enough to have been schoolmates with George Washington? You asked her about my whereabouts? Christ, Tyler, she's blind in one eye, has cataracts in the other, and forgets her hearing aid on a daily basis. Of course she would say I haven't been in my apartment!"

"So you have been there? Then why haven't you answered your phone?"

"I've been busy," Isabel said, picking at a thread on her shirt.

"Busy." Tyler was unconvinced. He was sure Isabel was hiding something. "Come on, Isabel, I'm not an idiot. What the hell is up with you lately?"

"Told you, I've been busy."

"Bull, Isabel!" Tyler roared. Isabel didn't even flinch. "I want an answer, damn it. Matthew is dead and I've been worried sick about you!"

"You're sweet," Isabel giggled.

Tyler felt his heart freeze. His sister never giggled. Something was seriously wrong with her. "Isabel," Tyler's voice was soft and calm, "Isa, tell me what you have been doing."

"I've been working. You wouldn't believe how crazy my hours have been. But I enjoy working nights. Something about the dark is so... sexy," Isabel grinned.

Tyler backed away, concerned by the look on his sister's face. "Isabel, what has gotten into you?"

"More like who has gotten into this sweet baby sister of your's," Isabel said.

"What?"

Before he could even blink Tyler found himself pinned to the wall. He struggled to get free but he couldn't move a limb, not even his pinky finger. "Isabel," Tyler choked pleadingly.

"I'm not Isabel. And you are no longer Tyler." Not-Isabel snapped her fingers and the window flew open. A stream of black smoke filtered into the room and dove towards Tyler. Tyler screamed as the smoke took over his body, then slumped against the wall when Not-Isabel let him down.

"Could have been more gentle with this body," the demon now inhabiting Tyler's body muttered.

"You won't need it for long, Jeph. Just get the Winchesters to believe you're on their side and keep up communication with me," Not-Isabel said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm the mole digging for tactical information," Jeph said. He looked over Not-Isabel. "Nice choice, Lilith. I quite like your body."

"Keep your hands to yourself," Lilith ordered. She stared hard at Jeph. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Jeph sighed as he strode out of the room. "Stupid Winchesters. Stupid Lilith. A demon just can't win!"


	12. Stormy May Day

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.**

**Author's Note: This is part twelve of the series Skies on Fire. This is the final chapter!**

* * *

"Are you sure this will work?"

"I've never been more unsure of anything in my life," Mary replied. She looked out past their base, across the deserted cornfield, straining to see no-man's-land. The moonless night made it impossible to see anything beyond the edge of their one acre wide stronghold. Mary found it slightly humorous that a cosmic war thousands of years in the making had been relegated to an abandoned farm in Iowa.

On the exact opposite side of the cornfield was another fourteen acres of barren farmland which had once consisted of beans and wheat. This was territory that had not yet been claimed by any side in the campaign. Beyond the edge of the farm was an expansive demon camp. To the left of the demons was the angels. A general store specializing in ice, tackle, and live bait was to the right. The angels and the Winchesters had agreed to protect the owner and his family, as well as the small town five miles from the farm; the demons enjoyed terrorizing the townspeople whenver there was a lull in the fighting.

"Which of them is our enemy?" Jeph, a newly recruited demon, asked.

"Neither. And both. This was never our war, my family's I mean. Biology doesn't matter, it doesn't choose our sides for us, regardless of angel blood or demon blood coursing through our veins. But here we are, stuck in the middle with only John's story to lead us."

Jeph turned to Mary, ducking under the low windowsill from which they stood guard. "You don't believe God spoke to him?"

"Do you?" Mary asked. She raised an eyebrow at her companion. "Do demons even believe in God?"

Jeph nodded earnestly. "We sure as hell do. We don't like Him as much as you humans do. Hell, He scares us demons. But we do believe."

Mary sighed, propping her elbows on the writing desk they had found in the attic when they first occupied the Victorian farmhouse. "John's not one to lie. I must rely on faith and my own moral judgment. Besides, if we don't stop this," Mary swept her arm towards the battlefield, "who will?"

A patrol team strolled across the grounds, tiny dark figures three stories below. Mary recognized the shorter, curvier figure as Ursula, an angel Castiel and Anna had recruited just after John's resurrection five months ago. The man with Ursula was none other than Castiel himself. The pair paused below the attic window and Castiel glanced up. Though Mary couldn't see his face, she was sure he was smiling.

Someone was tapping Mary's shoulder. She glanced at Jeph, who, finally having caught her attention, pointed to the attic door where Sam stood waiting.

"Recon's returned," Sam said once Mary joined him. Together they headed downstairs to the kitchen, sending Mikey upstairs to join Jeph as lookout.

"Anything we didn't already know?" Mary asked, crossing to the kitchen table where a map of the farm and surrounding area had been taped down. Several sheets of battle diagrams and patrol schedules were attched to the far wall. A cache of weapons was stored in and around the stove.

Emmeline, previously a commander in the demon army, stood over the map with John and Bobby at her shoulders. "They're moving," Emmeline said.

"The demons or the angels?" Mary asked.

"Both," John replied. He grabbed a marker and traced two paths along the map. "The demons are following the irrigation ditch here," John pointed to the right side of the map by the general store, "and the angels are moving along a harvesting trail here." John pointed to another area on the map.

"In our direction?" Mary inquired as she peered over the map.

John nodded. "I think this is it. If they're both moving against us, and it appears to be the final assault from both, then this is our last stand."

"Let's make it a good one," Mary said.

* * *

A purple dawn greeted Anna when she awoke. Glancing at the clock she realized it was 6:32am and she had been asleep for nearly eight hours. Being nine months pregnant her behavior was exused by the greater Winchester army. Being her own worst critic and feeling absolutely useless stuck in bed for the past few months, Anna could not excuse herself.

"Rise and shine," Anna mumbled, slowly throwing her legs over the side of the bed. She gingerly stood on two swollen ankles and padded to the bathroom.

On her way back to the bedroom Anna noticed how silent the house was. But it was more than quiet. It was as though the house itself was anticipating, bracing for an attack.

"You shouldn't be on your feet," Dean said from the doorway.

Anna smiled at her lover as she lowered her heavy body back on the bed. Dean quickly crossed the room and propped pillows behind Anna's back.

"Pampering as you have been all these months, why are you even more sweet today?" Anna asked.

"Baby's due any day, just want to make sure you're okay," Dean said placing a kiss on Anna's forehead.

"You're overcompensating. Dean," Anna took his hand forcing him to pause beside the bed, "we've talked about this. What happens to me after Mary's birth is not your fault, and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

When Dean sank onto the bed without a smart-ass retort, Anna realized something was very wrong. She grasped his hand tighter. "What?" she asked.

"Today... today's the day. The final battle," Dean whispered. "I don't know if any of us will survive this, regardless of the outcome."

"Have faith," Anna said softly. She shifted into a more comfortable position and shut her eyes, shutting out the war and the demons and her future. Then her eyes snapped open. "Dean, what day is it?"

"Thursday," Dean answered.

"July second?" Anna asked fearfully.

"Yes, why?"

"Today is Mary's birthday. And my water broke."

* * *

Sunlight streamed through the bars on the kitchen window. Every window on the first floor was barred and Mary hated it. Bars felt like a cage and she'd had enough of those growing up. She couldn't forget the demons, the pain, the rage, or the screams. Bars symbolized the possible future and her terrible past. Today, they mocked her, taunted her, whispering in her ear, "You think you can change it? You think you can save them? Be honest, they're lost. They're all lost and you will all die."

Mary shook the negative thoughts from her mind and turned away from the window. The kitchen was empty save for Jessica whipping up pancakes. At least this time she remembered to remove the weapons before she turned on the stove. They'd lost half their sawed-offs that day.

"Jess, you need any help?" Mary offered.

Jessica nodded. "Grab those plates in the china cabinent and put them on the table in the dining room."

Mary followed her cousin's directions, piling her arms with mismatched plates. "Don't you think pancakes are a bit much?"

"If today's the day we need to start the day with a good breakfast."

Mary rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut. If Jessica was happy making pancakes for the army then Mary would do nothing to stop her. They'd had too little happiness in their lives and if they were going to lose tonight they'd need all the happiness they could get.

"Pancakes again?" Ruby asked as she entered the dining room. She laughed at her daughter. "I have no idea where she learned to cook. Not from her father, that's for damn sure."

"We learned from you and Mom," Mary said. "Dad and Uncle Sam can barely microwave a bowl of Spaghettios."

Mikey ran into the dining room, nearly slamming into Mary. "Whoah! Easy," Mary said, throwing her hands out in front of her to keep Mikey at bay by several feet.

"Sorry," Mikey grunted. "But they've reached the cornfield. Fought each other the whole way here but both armies made it to our territory."

"They're here?" Ruby paled. She wrapped an arm around her bloated belly protectively and used the other arm to brace herself against the door.

Mary called to Jessica to stop with the pancakes and go to her mother. Jessica quickly complied, leading Ruby upstairs to the room she shared with Sam. Mary motioned Mikey out of the dining room and back into the kitchen. "I need you to identify where they will enter the cornfield. I also need Elizabeth and Emmeline to run schematics on their most likely tactics and the best ways to counter. Then get Uncle Sam and John and Bobby down here, have Jeph and Ursula make sure everyone is supplied, and put Walter and Pete on patrol in their place. I'll get Dad. Be back in ten minutes."

* * *

"Breathe, in, out, in, out." Dean coached Anna through a contraction, rubbing circles on her lower back. Anna was lying on her side, curled into a ball as much as she could around her large belly.

"I think I preferred being her mother without having to go through all this," Anna joked as the contraction ended.

There was a knock at the door and then Mary entered. "Dad, we-" she stopped when she her mother. "Son of a bitch. Today's my birthday, isn't it?"

"You forgot?" Anna laughed.

"Been a little busy," Mary admitted. She bit her lip. "Sorry about, you know."

Anna shook her head. "Totally worth it. What do you need your dad for?"

"Mikey found something, we need your expertise." Mary deliberately avoided giving any details so as not to worry her mother further.

Dean kissed Anna and promised to be back soon as he followed Mary out of the room. Closing the door, Dean rounded on Mary. "What are you not saying?"

"The battle's about to begin. We need you to help us plan our defense and attack."

Mary began to head downstairs but Dean caught her arm. "Plan? You just want me to plan? Mary, I'm a soldier. I don't plan. Though I do appreciate the compliment."

"What, you think I adore my Daddy just because of his brains? I like that Daddy has brawn, too," Mary laughed. She quickly sobered. "But Mom needs you more than we do. Well, Mom and me, but that's too much for my brain to handle."

Dean laughed and they headed into the kitchen. Sam, Mikey, Bobby, and John were waiting per Mary's instructions. Mikey had labeled the two perimeter breaches on the map and was discussing with Sam the schematics Emmeline and Elizabeth were working on.

"When will the tests be finished?" Mary asked as she slid up to the table.

"In an hour, maybe less. They're very good at what they do," Bobby said.

Dean clapped his hands together. "So where does that leave us for now?"

Sam and John simultaneously ran hands through their hair. "We're locked and loaded, just waiting for the girls to give us the best possible scenarios and we'll go from there."

"Alright, call me when you need me. I'll be with Anna." Dean gripped Mary's shoulder and headed back upstairs.

"What's with Uncle Dean? He's usually gung-ho about battle plans," John said.

"It's July second," Mary muttered quickly.

John's eyes grew wide, an expression not hidden from his father. "What?" Sam asked. John glanced at Mary, who exhaled deeply. "Today's my birthday," she said. "Mom's in labor."

"Oh my God," Sam exclaimed. "Is there anything-"

Mary cut her uncle off. "Dad'll take care of her, don't worry. Let's just concentrate on what we need to do."

* * *

Anna gasped as another pain surged through her abdomen. Her contractions were now two minutes apart. The clock on her bedside table now read 11:47am, almost time for lunch. Anna wondered if anyone else would be eating lunch that day, or if they would be preoccupied with the ensuing battle.

The bedroom door opened and Dean entered, closly the door softly behind him. He crossed to Anna's bed and smoothed back her hair from her face. "I'm back," Dean said. "They might need me again later. You know Sam's never been the decision maker in the family."

"I didn't know either of you made decisions. I always figured you made it up as you go," Anna said before moaning with the next contraction. She reached out for Dean's hand while he aided with her breathing.

Anna flopped her head back onto the pillow. "Next time you see Mary ask her what time she was born. Since I wasn't there, I don't know, but I'd like to have as much warning as I can."

"Sure thing," Dean said. He moved to the end of the bed. "I'm not sure what I'm doing, hell I don't think I'm the one who should be delivering her-"

"You'll do fine. You watch television, don't you? Just go off what you see on tv," Anna said.

"This isn't usually what they show on Pay-Per-View," Dean grinned.

Anna grinned back until she was hit with yet another contraction, closer this time, approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds. She fell into the breathing exercises she and Ruby had been practicing the past couple of months. Anna had a bad feeling this would be a long night for everyone.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Elizabeth and Emmeline had finished running schematics and the army had selected various courses of action. During this time, the patrols radioed to base reporting on the current battle between the angels and the demons at the edge of the cornfield. They noticed several units slowly picking their way north towards the farmhouse.

"I've got seven demons in my scope heading north-east and three angels heading north-west," Pete's voice crackled over the radio on the kitchen table. "There's two units of five demons each following the angels at ninety degrees. How they circled around the angel army to get to their current positions I don't know, but I have a bad feeling that some sort of alliance was made."

"You think the battle on our front lawn between two opposing armies is a diversion?" John asked.

"No," Pete answered. "It's legit. Casualties on both sides. Neither angels or demons are good enough actors to pull that off. Besides, they hate each other. Any excuse for a dead angel is good enough for a demon and vice versa."

Sam scanned a map on the table and nodded to himself. "Thanks, Pete. I'm sending a squadron to your location. Bobby will take point."

"You want to meet them head on?" Mary asked. "We've lost the element of surprise."

"They have too, only they don't know they've lost it, which gives us the advantage." Sam drew a several small X's on the map. "Bobby, take your men south-east and take out those demons. Mary, I'm assigning you to Elizabeth's unit. I want her tracking the demons that are following the angels. Take a radio, channel two, and she'll keep you updated."

"You want me to go after the demons or the angels?" Mary asked.

"The demons. You're half angel, and I don't want you killing any of your fellow kind. I don't care about dead demons or dead dicks like Uriel, but the rest of the angels... I know we have issues with them but you're still connected and I don't want their blood on your hands. Do you understand?"

Mary nodded. "You want to keep me from committing sin. But demons can't take them down, you need an angel on this."

"I'll do it," Castiel said. "I'll take Ursula and the other angels. We have enough to make up half a unit and since they only have three I'd say the odds are in our favor."

John clapped his hands. "Sounds like this is coming together. Anyone going out there, go now. They're already too close for comfort. I'm going to get Jessica and Uncle Dean. Mom and Anna need to be moved to the basement, just to be safe."

"Good luck everyone," Sam said as the commanding officers filed out of the kitchen.

Mary was the last to leave. She turned to Sam and hugged him tight before squeezing John as well. Then she was gone, without a word.

* * *

Ruby settled into a battered recliner in the unfinished basement, propping up her feet and shutting her eyes. This wasn't how she imagined it, the last battle. She'd assumed she would be on the battlefield fighting alongside Sam and Dean, not confined to plush chair because of a pregnancy that in reality should not even had happened.

"You alright, Mom?" A thin female voice asked from above Ruby's head.

Ruby smiled. Her pregnancy may have been abnormal and unforseen, but she would never trade her children for anything. "I'm just worried about your Dad."

"He's running recon from the kitchen not fighting on the front lines. I don't think you need to worry."

"Yes I do," Ruby said quietly. "He's restless. He won't stay there watching the soldiers die, soldiers he sent to their deaths. But if he goes out there and uses his powers to kill demons and angels it'll infect him and then we will lose him."

Jessica hugged her mother. "I'll talk to him."

Ruby watched her daughter head up the stairs to gather towels and water and anything else Dean would need for Mary's birth. John and Dean were cautiously leading Anna down to the basement where they had set up a cot for the birth.

"I feel like a whale," Anna complained. She stopped suddenly halfway down the stairs, bent over and clutching at her stomach. Dean held her to keep her from falling while John timed the contraction.

"That one lasted 54 seconds," John said as he pocketed the stopwatch. "It's been about 80 seconds since the last one."

"She's close," Dean said, adjusting his grasp around Anna. "We need to get her on that cot now."

Carefully, the two men guided Anna to the cot and gingerly laid her down. John slipped away to his mother and inquired into how she was feeling.

"Better than Anna," Ruby mumbled. "Jessica went to grab some things for the birth. When she gets back I want you both to go upstairs and help your father. Keep him in the house."

"Keep him from using his powers to kill," John said, understanding what his mother meant.

Jessica hurried down the stairs, dropping a handful of supplies at her uncle's feet. She motioned for her brother and they left the basement.

Ruby struggled to stand and joined Anna and Dean on the opposite side of the room. Seeing her get up Dean asked, "What are you doing? You should be off your feet."

"Bull," Ruby said. "You can't deliver that baby on your own. There's one of you and soon there's going to be two of them. You're outnumbered. Why not make it even?"

Dean nodded and ushered Ruby to Anna's side. "Keep her calm during the contractions while I check... well, you know."

* * *

Upstairs in the kitchen, John and Jessica were not surprised to find the kitchen abandoned. The radio rested on the table, the maps remained taped in place, but the kitchen was empty. Sam had gone to the field.

"So what, now we're base?" Jessica asked. She rolled her eyes. "Dad would leave when we need him most."

John eyed his sister questioningly. "What do you mean?"

"We can't stay, John. We can't be base because we can't stay here."

"Are you suggesting we desert?" John asked unbelivably.

Jessica shook her head violently. "It's not deserting when you're not meant to be here anyway. We came back to warn Mary and we did. I figured if we stayed to make sure Mom and Dad knew to concieve us that would give us a leg up in the existence department. But this battle... John, we aren't supposed to be here. We've overstayed our welcome and it's time to go home."

* * *

Mary ducked as the demon she was battling took a swing at her head. This is what they were resorted to- mano y mano, hand-to-hand combat. Most demons were equally matched to the demons and angels of the Winchester army and the angels of the angel army. Had the numbers not been equal, had Mary been fighting one demon with John and Jessica at her side, their combined physical strength and supernatural abilities would have ended this war in no time. But, with each member of an army paired with a member of an opposing army, they were too evenly matched for powers to be of any real help. Mary was forced to rely on her martial arts and self-defense manuvers.

"Come and get me bastard," Mary muttered as she blocked his next punch with her right forearm. Twisting forward and to the side, Mary aimed for the demon's jaw. She connected, sending the man spiraling onto the ground.

"The man whose body you're in, is he still in there?" Mary asked.

The demon leered. "I killed him ages ago. He was in my way. Easier to control the body when you don't have some stupid human trying to surface."

"Good to know." Mary grinned and slammed a booted foot onto the demon's torso. "Now I don't feel so bad about what I'm gonna do next."

Quickly bending down, Mary pulled out one of the knives dipped in her blood and sliced the demon across his vessel's throat. He gurgled as blood poured from the wound, a muffled final scream before the demon was ripped from its vessel and ultimately destroyed in fire.

"Mary!" Mikey yelled across the smoking battlefield, acrid puffs of gray smoke rising from the limp bodies of former demons that had been obliterated.

"Little busy," Mary called back as she wiped the knife across her pants, careful not to smear off her own blood.

"It's your cousins," Mikey said as he joined Mary by the body. Mary glanced up with fear in her green eyes. Mikey quickly placated her. "I don't know what's wrong. They just told me to come find you."

"What's their location?"

"They're at base," Mikey said. His eyes roved across the battlefield. "Better hurry, we need you out here."

* * *

It was official- Ruby was calling a doctor as soon as the battle was over and scheduling a C-section.

"Relax, Anna," Dean said as Anna finished pushing. "I've got her."

Dean grabbed a towel and the scissors Jessica had sterilized earlier, cut the baby's umbilical cord, and swaddled her in the warm towel. He placed the crying baby on Anna's slightly less bloated stomach; with trembling hands, Anna took her newborn daughter in her arms.

"She's beautiful," Ruby breathed. The image of an eighteen-year-old Mary popped into her head. "Not that we didn't know that already."

Heavy boots stomped down the basement stairs. John stopped on the last step and grinned. "Thought I heard a baby." He crossed the room to join his mother at Anna's side while Dean quickly trashed the afterbirth and washed his hands.

"Never seen this side of Mary before," John laughed. He ran a hand down her cheek.

Anna smiled up at her nephew. "I remember when you were born. You didn't cry. Ruby nearly panicked, she thought you were stillborn. But Sam had you in his arms, feeling the rise and fall of your chest, and knew you were okay."

"Something to look forward to," Ruby muttered. She winked at John, a small sign to let him know they'd be okay.

Dean moved to the other side of Anna opposite Ruby and John. Anna was nursing the newborn Winchester, humming a lullaby while the baby suckled. Giving Anna and Dean a family moment, Ruby motioned for John to join her by the stairs. "How are Jessica and your dad?"

John squirmed. "Dad's... he's not here. He's..."

"He's fighting," Ruby finished the sentence for him. Rubbing her temples Ruby couldn't believe Sam wouldn't listen to her. He knew better but Ruby knew that regardless there was no stopping Sam from joining his troops. Ruby let out a sigh. "And you and Jessica are now base?"

"No, that's why I came to get you. You have to be base now. I don't want to ask you, but Uncle Dean and Anna are a little busy right now-"

"Why aren't you and Jessica base?" Ruby interrupted.

John stared at his shoes and fidgeted. "We have to go home now. We can't stay for the battle. That's not why we came."

Ruby swallowed. She knew this day was coming. John and Jessica couldn't stay in the past forever. And, truth be told, she rather they didn't see combat. It was better if they left now, before they were killed in action. Ruby wrapped her arms around her son and pulled him as close as her belly would allow. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too, Mom," John said into his mother's shoulder. Parting he said, "See you soon."

John crossed back to Dean and Anna. Dean stood to greet his nephew, having overheard the conversation with Ruby and knowing what was about to come. He pulled the young man into a hug. "Gonna miss you, kid."

"You'll see me soon enough, Uncle Dean. You're gonna have your hands full with us three."

"Yeah," Dean said, staring down at his newborn daughter. Anna, having finished feeding the baby, tugged on Dean's shirt. "Hm?"

"Would you like to hold your daughter?" Anna asked.

Dean nodded and Anna passed Mary into his arms. Tears formed in Dean's eyes. "Hi, Mary. God, she's perfect. Mary. Mary Samantha Winchester."

* * *

Mary stormed into the kitchen to find Jessica, and only Jessica, sitting at the table. Jessica quickly looked up, noting her cousin's smoldering eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Mary nearly roared. "We need you in the field!"

"Dad left, someone has to be base, so John went to bring Mom up here to cover," Jessica explained.

"Then once Aunt Ruby gets up here I want you two to get your asses out there!"

"Mom's on her way, wants to hold you first," John said as he came up from the basement. "And we aren't going out there."

"Why not?" Mary demanded.

Jessica piped up. "We can't do this, Mary." Her eyes remained downcast, never lifting from the table. She knew Mary would not take the news well.

"Can't do what?" Mary asked. Her voice was calmer now. She was more confused than angry.

"The battle. It's not our fight," John said as he slid into the chair beside his sister.

Mary was aghast. "Not your fight? Are you forgetting where we came from? The hell that was our lives? How is this not your fight?"

"No, of course we haven't forgotten," Jessica said. She sighed. "We don't want to go back to that anymore than you do."

"Then why won't you fight?"

"You're the one who can end this, Mary," John said, taking his cousin's hand in his. "not us. We'll only be in the way if we stay."

Mary sagged against the wall. "What are you saying? John, God spoke to you. We made this a three-sided war because of you! You can't back out now!"

"We're not backing out," John said. "I was merely the messenger. I played my part in this war. Jessica and I both have played our parts. There's nothing more we can do here."

"You'll just sit here, away from the bloodshed, watching us die?" Mary whispered.

Jessica shook her head. "No, we're going home."

A singled tear slid down Mary's cheek. She wiped it away, mumbled something about seeing her cousins later, and rushed outside the house.

* * *

Ruby slowly dragged her heavy body up the stairs and away from her little niece. It was so hard to leave Mary. It would be worse with Jessica, when she would have to leave her own child. At the moment though, she didn't want to intrude on Anna's last moments with her daughter.

When Ruby reached the kitchen it was empty and she knew instinctively that Jessica and John were gone.

Ruby sat down at the table, insured the radio was on and the volume up, and began to cry. Her head in her hands, her dark hair cascading, obscuring her face. This was how she looked when Sam entered.

"Ruby?" Sam asked.

The young woman looked up to reveal her tear-stained face. Sam quickly crossed to his lover.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked. "Has something happened? Where are John and Jessica?"

"Safe, they're safe." Ruby wiped the tears off her face and smiled. "They went home. It's better this way. Now, when we win and the future is changed, they won't remember the original timeline." Ruby took Sam's hand in her's. "Trust me, they're okay."

* * *

It took seven hours before the angel army and the demon army were forced off the Winchester's property. It took another three hours before the demons finally surrendered and the angels called a truce. It was at this time that all three armies realized two members were missing- Mary and Lilith.

They were found at the edge of the farmland, in no man's land. The demons and angels surrounded the pair; no one moved to intervene. This was the end of the final battle. Whoever won this fight would decide the fate of humanity.

Lilith, in the body of Isabel, lashed out at her eighteen-year-old nemisis with demonic rage. Mary countered with a telekinetic thrust at the demon's chest, sending her flying several yards. Where powers were unecessary earlier in the battle, they were now Mary's only resource and only chance to win.

As Lilith jumped to her feet, Mary stood, arms crossed, staring at the demon. "You won't survive this. I do hope you're ready to die," Mary said.

Lilith laughed. "Cocky little Winchester. I'm not the one who will be dying today."

"Here's a fun fact for you," Mary began as she crouched. "I was born today."

Mary lunged, her palm flared, and she tackled Lilith. The rolled a few feet and Mary smacked her hand onto the demon's forehead. "I was born today. I will not die today. This is my destiny. And this is your's."

Lilith shrieked as she was destroyed, particle by particle. Finally, Isabel's body was still.

Mary looked down at the body beneath her, her green eyes betraying no emotion. "That was anti-climatic. Pity."

* * *

As soon as she made it back to the house, Mary collapsed on a couch in the living room. Several of the subordinates remained in the field to process demonic prisoners while the angels had quickly abandoned. They would remain scattered and leaderless now that the war was over and they no longer answered to God.

"Mary," Castiel said softly. He lightly placed a hand on her arm, stroking security into her skin.

"Lilith is dead. The war is over. And I'm exhausted," Mary said. She smiled at Castiel but he did not smile back. "What?"

"Anna is gone."

Mary nodded sadly. "I figured as much. I feel like I should have some sort of emotional response right now but I've known this was coming. I've had time to accept it."

Castiel sighed. "Then I'm sorry for this." He kissed her deeply.

"Don't be sorry for that," Mary laughed.

"I'm not sorry for kissing you. I'm sorry that it's the last kiss we shall share."

Mary shook her head in confusion. "Come again?"

"They only brought me back for you, so you would keep fighting. The fight's over now and you don't need me."

"What are you saying? Of course I need you!" Mary cried.

"Your homones have no bearing in this matter," another male voice said from the middle of the room. Mary looked around Castiel to find Zachariah standing on the rug. "Castiel has done his duty, as you have done your's. It is time."

"You can't take him from me!" Mary yelled. She glanced up at the heavens, feeling that she had God's attention. "You can't take him from me! You can't take the last good thing I have!"

"I'm sorry," Zachariah said sincerely. He held out a hand to Castiel. With one last kiss to Mary, Castiel took Zachariah's hand and vanished just as Dean came into the room.

"What the hell?" Dean asked. He looked from Zachariah, who stood stoically in the center of the room, to Mary who wept at her seat on the couch. "What just happened? Where'd Cas go?"

"Home," Zachariah said simply. "It was time for him to go."

Dean instantly went to his daughter and held her. Having just lost Anna, he fully understood what Mary was going through. "I'm so sorry sweetheart."

"It doesn't matter. You won't remember him anyway," Zachariah said. He smiled sadly. "This is a gift to you for all you've done. We're wiping your slate clean. You won't remember the trials and tribulations of your former life. You will have a new life, one full of happiness and love, not his pain. I can restart your lifeline, today, with the newborn Ruby and Sam are currently cooing over. What do you say?"

Mary didn't hesitate. She looked at her father as she spoke. "Do it. If I can't have him or my mother then I don't want to remember." She slid off the couch, gripped Dean's hand, and moved to stand by Zachariah. "Do it."

In a moment, Mary vanished. Dean and Zachariah were left alone in the living room. Zach noted the despondent look on Dean's face. "It's better this way. She'll have a better life now that the war is won and she won't remember her past life."

"I know," Dean whispered, still staring at the spot where his daughter had stood only moments before. "I don't know much about her life, just what she told me and what little Sam and I saw. But I want her to be happy and if this is for the best, so be it."

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry it's so long! Had to pack so much into it! Thanks to everyone for the great reviews!**


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